The Secret
by PriscillaPal
Summary: Sasha Williams has been surprised lately. Surprised by her feelings for Abraham, surprised by the unwelcome arrival of Deanna's younger brother, Negan, in Alexandria, and surprised by a secret she discovers that Negan and Deanna are keeping from everyone.
1. Chapter 1

**BACKSTORY:** This story takes place shortly after the unfortunate series of events, that got Pete Anderson and Reg Monroe killed. Deanna is falling apart, Spencer is grieving and angry, and Rick is struggling to take control of the stronghold, while not stepping on any toes.

Abraham is also struggling. Struggling to make sense of his growing feelings for Sasha, while living with Rosita. But their lives are interrupted when someone arrives at Alexandria, that according to Deanna and the other residents, actually belongs there-Negan. And it is revealed that he is Deanna's younger brother.

Negan is not happy worth shit, to see his brother-in-law dead along with their only doctor! He arrives with Heath, Dwight, Sherry and Simon. And while they are getting caught up on the events that took place in their absence, Rick and his group are taking in these new people, and the potential threat they pose to the leadership of this community...

* * *

Sasha was not within the walls of Alexandria when their new 'neighbors' arrived. She was in a truck with Abraham, who was supposed to be Glenn, but for some reason, could not go out scavenging so she was with...Abraham.

He talked a lot. Sort of. Meaning when he did not talk, she sensed he was taking her in even when his eyes should be on the road. Her mind wandered while he did this. Wandered to Father Gabriel and how Maggie had stopped her from beating his ass the other night! And yet, somehow her encounter with him cleared her head. For the first time since Bob and Tyrese's deaths, she felt as if she could go on. She felt like she could find her place within the walls of Alexandria...

"Anyway," Abraham was saying and Sasha realized he was talking again, "I noticed that the windows on that house you're living in need caulking like an ant needing to fart. I could do that when we get back."

Sasha pulled herself out of her reverie and looked over at him.

"What?" she asked.

Abraham glanced over at her.

"Your windows need caulking! It's getting nippier than a cow's tit at night! You'll lose heat that way." he huffed. Sasha wondered why he even cared whether she 'lost heat or not' but she didn't broach that subject.

"Oh. Yeah. I can do it myself, thanks."

"You can caulk?" Abraham asked skeptically.

"I've seen it done. I'm sure it's no big deal." Sasha said.

Abraham glanced over at her again.

"So is that your way of saying that you don't plan to caulk because you won't be here or what?"

Sasha blinked, as she had been ready to tune him out again when she heard that!

"What are you talking about, Abraham? Where would I be going?"

"To take a dirt nap, that's what! You have to admit, Sasha, you've been kind of walking a tight rope..."

"You know what? Stop the truck! Stop it now!" Sasha yelled and Abraham made the truck come to a screeching halt!

"What? Are you planning on getting out and getting yourself killed out there?" Abraham half yelled.

"Where are you getting the idea that I want to die?"

Abraham raised a bushy eyebrow and Sasha rolled her eyes!

"Seriously? I came off like that? I am not looking to die, okay? Now can we get moving here. Aaron and Darryl said that there is a fire station around here someplace. They might have some things we can use." she replied, her manner surly. If Abraham thought she was suicidal, what did everyone else think?

But Abraham didn't start the truck. He just stared at her.

"Why aren't you starting the truck?" she asked, getting a vibe off of him that she couldn't place.

"So you're not looking to die?"

"I said I wasn't! What the hell?"

Abraham moved in to kiss her and Sasha felt like time was moving in slow motion. She couldn't think to move or scramble away from his lips, because she didn't know if she even wanted to. But just as his mouth touched hers, Sasha's eyes went to walker that had shown up with friends, on the driver's side of the truck!

"Shit!" Abraham cursed, starting the truck and hauling ass out of there! He looked in the rear view mirror a couple of times to check that the walkers were in deed a memory, before looking over at Sasha again.

"I want to get to know you, Sasha. A whole lot better than I already do. That's why I asked Glenn to stay behind while I came with you." he admitted. Sasha coughed and looked out of the window.

"You don't feel the same way?" Abraham asked.

"I just think you're presuming a lot. You assumed I'm trying to kill myself and you're presuming that I'm even interested in you. I think you have some nerve."

"I have more than **SOME** nerve! You look me in the eye and tell me you don't like me at all? Not even just a little bit?" Abraham challenged her. Sasha cleared her throat before she spoke.

"You have some things you need to take care of, before I would consider letting you come over and 'caulk'." she said, now looking him directly in the eye. He briefly returned her look with a huge smile.

* * *

 **ALEXANDRIA-**

Eugene walked up to the gate to meet Heath, who was on the other side.

"Who are you?" Heath asked, looking around him.

"I could ask the same of you, but I would not because..."

Suddenly, Negan and Simon got out out of the RV they had been traveling in and sauntered up to the gate. Negan was carrying a spiked bat and Eugene backed away a bit.

Negan pointed the bat at Eugene.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Uh...my name is..."

"Your name is 'I don't give a shit'. When we left here, **YOU** weren't here! Now you open this gate and explain who the fuck you are, otherwise..."

Ron, who just happened to be nearby, hurried over to the gate!

"Let them in, Eugene! They're one of us!" he said and moved to open the gate.

"Thank fucking you, young Mr. Anderson!" Negan said, while Simon glared at Eugene. Eugene refrained from gulping and backed back, as Ron opened the gate for these people and let them drive in. Once Ron closed the gate again, Eugene stopped him.

"Who are those individuals?"

"That's Negan. And he won't be pleased that your leader killed my father. Or his brother-in-law." Ron said with glee. Finally, payback was about to happen!

"Brother-in-law? If Reg was that guy's..."

"Negan is his name." Ron said flippantly.

"If Negan was Reg's brother-in-law then he's..."

"Yeah, genius. Negan is Deanna's brother. And you're all fucked." Ron said, walking off. Eugene closed his eyes. Yeah, he **FELT** fucked and not in a good way!

* * *

Michonne and Carol had noticed the strangers within Alexandria, and began asking questions. Meanwhile, Negan touched base with his sister Deanna and his only living nephew, Spencer.

"Fucking Christ!" Negan snapped, after hearing everything. Simon glanced out of Deanna's window!

"Shit, Negan! There's a priest living here!"

Spencer was drinking some wine and Negan walked over and snatched the glass from him!

"What in the hell is wrong with you? Why didn't you or the others get these shitheads out of here?" he asked tersely. But Deanna interrupted.

"Negan, Pete killed Reg. Rick put him down for me. For all of us. The situation was out of control with Jessie."

Negan clenched his jaw.

"I never saw anything. That was just gossip. You see Pete, our only fucking doctor, ever hit his wife, Simon?"

Simon **HAD** seen him backhand her once, over not keeping their youngest son quiet, but he didn't offer that up.

"No. Not a thing. Ever." Simon said.

"Denise is here. She's competent enough to be our doctor for now." Deanna said firmly.

"Isn't she a fucking vet?" Simon asked. Negan ran his hand down his face.

"Okay sis and nephew-do-nothing, I will fix this. I won't throw them out of here if I can see they bring something to the table. But I want to talk to them myself. Can you arrange a pow-wow... **SPENCER**?"

Spencer, who had always found his trashy uncle annoying, nodded and left the house. He hurried down the porch and nodded to Dwight and Sherry, who were returning to their home, under the watchful eye of Rosita. She casually walked over to Glenn and Maggie.

"Who did Eugene let in here?" Rosita whispered.

"I've been hearing that one of them is Deanna's brother." Glenn said, his eyes now on Deanna's house. Rosita's eyes widened and she looked at Maggie!

"Did she ever say she had a brother that lived here?" Rosita asked. Maggie shook her head.

"Not a word. But things have happened so fast for her. And let's face it: they were thinking of kicking us out of here. Maybe no one thought it was important for us to know." she guessed.

"Rick needs to know now." Glenn said and hurried down the porch steps in search of him.

Meanwhile, Rick and Morgan, were standing over a small crop of potatoes that Maggie had been trying to grow. It didn't seem as if things were going well.

"You know, someone that I once knew, used to grow things on his property. We could try straw mulch. Maybe we can go out scavenging and look for some garden stores." Morgan suggested, just as he spotted two men, he knew he had never seen before, walking up toward them. He clutched his stick as he nodded to Rick, who turned to face them.

"Can I help you?" Rick asked, not liking this shit! Eugene let strangers in here?

"Can you help me? Simon, did you hear this shit? I come back after months of scavenging for this community and find out that some prick has killed my brother-in-law **AND** our only fucking doctor! Rick, is it? Yeah, you can help me. Help me to understand why the fuck you're still here?" Negan asked, grinning all the while. Rick noticed his 'bat'.

"What's this? Growing shit?" Simon asked, peering at the ground. He then looked at Morgan, who's gaze never left his.

"You're Deanna's brother then?" Rick asked carefully. A crowd was beginning to grow.

Negan didn't answer that.

"Rick, my sister thinks that you're being productive here. You and your people. I'll tell you what? I want you to get your asses in to whatever vehicle you came in, go out and bring this community, that being the **REAL** members, back some shit. Productive shit. And if I don't like what you all bring back, then you don't get to stay, capiche?" he asked.

"We're growing food." Morgan said in a hard voice. Simon's answer to that was to unzip his pants, pull out his modest looking organ, then proceed to urinate over the potato crop!

Morgan's response was to fuck him up with this stick! Everything happened so fast that no one person would tell the same story! But everyone agreed that it 'ended' with Simon falling into the dirt, face down with his pants now around his ankles! There were snickers, and Negan assumed they were coming from the assholes that did not belong here. He pointed at Morgan.

"You're a dangerous mutherfucker. But I like you. You can help keep this place secure." Negan said before locking eyes with Rick.

"I understand **YOU** , can kill doctors. Our only one **AND** start trouble." Negan said, just as Michonne, Carol, Rosita, Glenn and Darryl, stood with Rick and Morgan. Negan spotted Aaron.

"I hear you're responsible for this shit? Bringing these people in?" Negan asked. Darryl noticed that Aaron sort of cowered at being put on the spot. He wondered why no one had mentioned that this prick lived here?

Deanna appeared and stood between Rick and Negan.

"Negan, no! Let's unpack the things you brought back and have a get together tonight. So we can make introductions." she said, patting her brother's face before walking off. Heath appeared and helped Simon up, before they walked off with Negan. The crowd began to disperse and Michonne looked at Rick.

"He's a problem." she said quietly.

"Yeah, he is." Rick said in a low tone. "How many people did he bring in here with him?"

"Like four. That asswipe that tried to pee on the crop, a guy with dreads and some couple." Glenn said.

"We're going to keep calm and do this 'get together' thing tonight. Let's find out if four people and Negan, are all we have to worry about." Rick said.

Eugene hurried up to them, his mullet actually moving from the velocity! When he reached them, he caught his breath and spoke.

"That Negan is going into the house Sasha lives in!" he rasped.

"Christ!" Rosita swore. "Why was she given a house someone else lived in?"

"Somehow," Rick said slowly, "I don't think they meant for us to stay. I can't see Deanna purposely doing something like that though."

"Let's just do what Rick suggested," Michonne said, "we'll go to this get together and try to read what we're up against."

"I'll wait for Abraham and Sasha," Glenn said, "so that we can warn her about what's going on in her house. She can stay with Maggie and me."

That sounded like a good idea, the plans the group made. But unfortunately, things would not go as planned with regards to the party, or Sasha's living arrangements.

Thanks for reading! **Account P a treon. com** (slash) PriscillaPal


	2. Chapter 2

Abraham was more positive about the haul they had brought back than Sasha was. Though she could see the potential for it's usefulness-in the future.

They had found the fire station filled with maybe, five walkers. One was the poor receptionist, who growled from behind her low level counter/desk. There had also been a wall adorned with pictures of fallen firemen.

They grabbed first aid supplies, three defibrillator machines, two fire extinguishers, two dozen packs of some energy drink, four cans of roasted hash that did not appear to have an expiration date, tools and helmets. Someone else had been there, since there were no uniforms in sight and there was only one truck.

Sasha found a fake Christmas tree, still boxed in a supply closet, along with a rank walker. She killed the walker and took the tree-box and all. The world may have went crazy but Christmas still existed, hopefully.

"You know if we cleared that building out and maybe cleaned it, that could be a place to stay when our people go out scavenging." Sasha noted. She had her passenger side window down slightly.

"Like a motel?" Abraham asked.

"Yeah, I guess. But there is a kitchen and a bathroom, plus showers."

"Did you test the water to see if it was running this whole time?"

"No," Sasha admitted, "I just assumed it."

Abraham reached over and touched her hand, startling her a bit.

"I thought that Christmas tree and the decorations, was a nice thing to bring back."

Sasha smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

"Yeah, it was. It think it will look nice in the living room."

"In who's house?" Abraham asked.

"Mine."

"You mean ours, right?" Abraham asked, his brow lifted. Sasha did not answer him because she noticed Glenn at the gate looking agitated, even from some distance away. It was beginning to get dark, and even Abraham could see a new RV beyond the gate.

"You see that?" he asked. Sasha leaned forward.

"There's another RV here. Who's here?" she asked.

"It's got to be okay, I mean they wouldn't have let someone else in here that didn't belong here." Abraham said, but more to himself. He didn't like how Glenn looked at the gate. He had clearly been on the lookout for them.

Glenn opened the gate and Abraham eased in. Sasha got out first and hurried over to him.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Abraham joined them.

"Who's RV is that?" he asked in a no nonsense tone.

"It belongs to Deanna's brother." Glenn said, still unable to believe it himself. Abraham gave him a look of incredulity.

"What do you mean 'Deanna's brother'? Where the fuck did he come from?"

"Did he come alone?" Sasha asked, then looked around. The lights in her house were on...

"No. He brought three other people and 'suddenly', everyone that has always lived here, could speak up about this guy. Aaron looked like he was about to lose his lunch when he saw this Negan guy come back."

"Negan is his name?" Abraham asked.

"Yeah. He's pissed at Rick for killing Pete, and Reg being dead and just all of us being here. Deanna is throwing a get together at her house tonight. Rick wants us to go and get as much info as we can about Negan and how people feel about him." Glenn told them.

"Who's at my house? I'd swear I left the lights off." Sasha noted. Glenn's jaw tightened.

"Yeah about that...Sasha, apparently this Negan lives in your house."

"What the living fuck?!" Abraham snapped. "Why would Deanna let her live in her brother's house?"

"Rick thinks that's proof that Deanna and Reg never meant for us to stay permanently. They thought we'd be gone or thrown out by the time Negan came back. Sasha, don't go back there. You'll stay with Maggie and me until we get things settled."

"Excuse me? My things are in there! Clothing and things of Tyrese's and Bob's! I'm not leaving them with some stranger!" Sasha huffed and started to walk over there, but Abraham grabbed her and spun her around to face him.

"Darlin', I get how you're feeling but you can't barrel in there and throw that guy out! We need to know what we're dealing with."

Sasha pulled out of his grip, walked to the truck and took out her rifle!

" **THIS** is what we're dealing with! Negan can find another place to sleep!" Sasha snapped and began marching towards her house!

"Shit!" Abraham hissed. "Go get Darryl and meet me over there!"

Glenn ran off and Abraham took out his own gun and ran after Sasha, who by now, was on the porch steps! Abraham reached out to grab her arm but missed! Sasha didn't even bother to knock as she threw open the door and pointed her rifle at Negan and Simon, who were standing by the dining room table, looking at a map!

"Get out of my house! Now!" Sasha yelled. Abraham hurried in after her and soon, Glenn and Darryl arrived for back up! Simon scowled and raised his hands. Negan grinned at Sasha and raised his hands in surrender as well.

"Well, well,well! What in the fuck do we have here! How's it going, Sunshine?"

"It's Sasha. And you're in my house!" Sasha repeated.

"Sasha Sunshine. Sunshine Sasha. Which do you prefer? That I call you Sasha Sunshine or Sunshine Sasha or just SS or..."

"Shut up!" Abraham barked, not liking Negan's flirty tone. "Deanna assigned this house to Sasha. You saw her stuff here, didn't you?"

"Yeah I did, you disrespectful fuck, but I figured I'd get to the bottom of it at the party tonight. You are going, aren't you Sasha Sunshine?"

Simon thought Sasha was totally hot and he too was displeased about Negan's hitting on her, but for different reasons! Negan got all kinds of ass around here **AND** at the different communities they threatened and stole supplies from! The least he could do was give him a chance to get to know some of the women in this new group! Hell, that one married to that Glenn guy was smoking hot at well!

But Sasha was eyeing the map that was on **HER** dining room table. She lowered her rifle and changed her tone of voice.

"I'm sorry. I just came back from scavenging and I'm tired. I'll just move my stuff out of the house. Like right now." Sasha said and walked towards the staircase. Abraham turned to Glenn and Darryl.

"Get ready for the party," he said in a low voice, "I'll make sure Sasha gets out of here alright." he said and hurried up the stairs after her. Negan eyed the staircase. Where the fuck was that ginger going?! He had no business upstairs with this Sasha. He drummed his fingers on the table, then glared after Glenn and Darryl as they left.

"What do you think?" Negan asked Simon.

"I think she's fucking hot! Too hot for that red headed guy."

Negan grimaced!

"You really think they're together? I don't see it. And actually, I wasn't asking you about **HER**. I'm asking you about the fucking map! Do you think we can get to that Kingdom place through that back way in the woods? We can surprise them."

"Yeah, maybe. But I think we ought to have a few of our guys do a test run, just to see if we can." Simon said.

"Good plan. Talk it over with Heath and Dwight. See if you can take that crazy fuck with the stick. He can serve as security."

"Why? He's one of Rick's men." Simon said.

"Yeah well Dwight was doing some snooping. Morgan, that's the crazy fuck's name, has been here about a couple of days longer than us. He knew Rick back in the day but he hasn't gotten comfortable here. He could be the first one of them we can turn." Negan said.

"Who's the second?" Simon asked, not really thinking it could work.

Negan stared up the staircase.

"Why Sunshine, of course."

* * *

Sasha began packing up her stuff while Abraham glowered at her. Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore and looked at him.

"Is there something you want to say?" she asked tiredly.

"I almost lost a fucking testicle when you came barreling up in here! You know better! You know better than to come into some place raring to go like that! You could've been killed!" he snapped. Sasha set down a pair of shorts she was about to fold and walked up to him.

"I get that you're concerned. I get that you care. I get that you **MORE** than just care. But I was not about to hide and ask 'permission' to come into a place I have been living in! Something is wrong here. There has never been **ANYTHING** in this house to suggest that someone was living here. Ever!"

Abraham calmed down somewhat.

"Okay. So what are you thinking?"

"I think that we won't know anything until we go to the party. But did you see that map? Something's going on. And there is a part of me that thinks I should stay here and find out what." Sasha revealed.

"Stay here how?" Abraham asked. But he knew...

"Suggest that Negan and I bunk here together and..."

Abraham's response to that was to pick up her suitcase, walk over to the window, open it and throw it out! He then snatched up the shorts she had been holding and waved them at her!

"I'm going home to Rosita to break things off with her! You're moving in with me, we're going to the party then coming home and **FUCKING**! Then we'll see if you ever come up with a severely ass backwards idea like that again!" he snapped, before pulling her face to his and swallowing her whole with a kiss that was so intense, that Sasha felt her knees threaten to buckle.

But she recovered and pulled out of his hold.

"Abraham," Sasha breathed, "I wasn't suggesting that I stay here and sleep with him! I just would stay here and get information..."

"Did you see the way he was looking at you? That piece of shit would offer to tell you anything for free for a horsey ride from you! No! Now let's go. I have some explaining to do to Rosita and we have a party to go to."

Sasha didn't say anything else, as Abraham's thick arm anchored around her waist and they walked down the stairs. Abraham gave Negan and Simon murderous looks before leaving the house with Sasha. Negan grinned after them, walking to the window to watch which house they did indeed go to, before turning to Simon.

"You need to go home and get changed. I'm sure those fucks will be pumping our people for information about us."

"And if they do?" Simon asked.

"Let em'." Negan snorted. "I already know that Red is supposed to be living with that Rosita chick. So I don't know **WHAT** the fuck this shit we just saw is all about. But if I'm right, Morgan and Rosita will be coming over to our side, dropping Rick's numbers by two."

Rosita stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel, just as Abraham entered their bedroom. She dropped the towel as soon as they locked eyes.

"See anything you like?" she asked teasingly. Abraham took a deep breath.

"We need to talk." he said and picked up her towel to hand it to her. Rosita slowly took it, puzzled.

"Okay. You look serious...oh, you found out about that Negan creep! We're going to handle it. There's a party tonight and we're going to find out what we're dealing with here." Rosita said in a soothing tone, before tossing the towel on the bed and pulling on his shirt.

Abraham removed her hand.

"I know about Negan. What I need to talk about has nothing to do with him."

"Okay," Rosita said, feeling annoyed suddenly, "what's going on, Abraham?"

"I need for you to move out of here." he said bluntly. Rosita's eyes widened!

"What did you say?" she asked in a hard tone.

"I need for you to move out of here." Abraham repeated. This was hard. Harder than he had expected it to be. In some fucked up way, he had hoped Rosita would say that she had sensed that there had been some distance between them or something. He had hoped that somehow she would make this easy for him.

No such luck.

"You need for me to move out of here? Why? Because we're moving someplace else? Or are you saying that you need for me to leave and you're staying?"

Abraham said nothing and suddenly, Rosita began yelling at him!

"Cut the bullshit and tell me what's going on! Who is she? Who?!" she seethed.

"Sasha. It's been Sasha for awhile."

Rosita suddenly shoved him! Abraham was stunned and unprepared for that move, so he stumbled back a bit!

"It's been Sasha for awhile, huh? How long is awhile?" Rosita snapped, wondering if this shit he was talking about, went back to Bob!

"It has been Sasha for awhile for **ME**. I just told her today and we both realized we had feelings for one another. Now I'm sorry but I need for you to leave."

"Fuck you! I'm not going anywhere. And if you want to be with her, go to her house!"

"Negan is there."

"Then the three of you should be very happy. Now if you will excuse me, I have a party to get ready for. You can get the hell out while I change!"

"I need to pack my stuff." Abraham said.

"Do it then! Don't mind me!" Rosita said as she sauntered to the closet, opened the door and stood in front of her clothing selections for a very long time, while still very naked. Abraham did his damnedest to ignore her, before packing his meager shit and leaving. Once he left the bedroom, Rosita turned back around and walked over to the bed. She sat down, put her face in her hands and cried.


	3. Chapter 3

Sasha had a few problems.

One, it was hard to do what Rick was asking, and ignore the death glares that Rosita was giving her from across the room.

Two, she was dealing with her own feelings, about how suddenly she had jumped into a relationship with Abraham. But the one thing she had learned about this new world they lived in, was that there literally may be no tomorrow. So if you found someone you cared about, you had to grab on to them now.

And third, Negan was a problem and their group was right to be worried. She could feel his stare as well, from across the room, while she made small talk with Heath.

"You seem better." Heath said as he sipped a glass of wine.

"I was that bad, huh?" Sasha asked casually. Someone must have told Heath about how she had been acting, when they first arrived at Alexandria.

"A few people here could see that you had been through a lot out there. And I had asked around. I know about your boyfriend and brother. It sounded like it happened one on top of the other. Sorry to hear it."

"Thanks. I don't think I've actually heard those words from anyone." Sasha admitted. "I mean, yes, everyone from my group was sorry, but it showed in their eyes. And there was no time for grieving. We just had to move on."

"It's rough out there. I mean I haven't had it as bad as you all did, but going out and scavenging...you really see the aftermath of what went down." Heath said.

"You know," Sasha said, "the thing is, we don't know what went down, do we?"

"We know there's no cure, that's for damned sure." Heath groused, sipping some more wine. Sasha decided to now ease into Negan.

"So this place was made for some kind of natural disaster emergency or something, right? How did you come to live here?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it's clear that Deanna and Reg were very selective about who was let in here. You all were selective about us as well, and for good reason. I was just wondering how you ended up here?"

"Well I knew Deanna." Heath said.

"You worked in Congress?"

"No." was all Heath would say about that. Sasha sensed she might have been a bit too nosy and backed off a bit. She noticed that Abraham was busy talking to Dwight and Sherry. She hoped he was having more success than she was. Carol was over in a corner talking to Simon, who outright leered at her whenever her eyes fell upon him. Sasha's mind returned to that map that had had spread out on HER dining room table. She decided to try again with Heath.

"You know before my brother and I were with Rick, we were with another group for a short time. These people actually had a town of sorts, along with places to live."

"A town?" Heath asked, genuinely interested.

"Yeah, it was called Woodbury, back down South. The entrance to the town was mostly blocked off by sandbags, but we had ways of letting people in and out."

Heath eyed her.

"I thought I heard from Carol or someone, that you all lived in a prison?"

"Yes when my brother and I joined Rick's group. Actually, Rick didn't want us at first so we ended up at Woodbury with a man that called himself the Governor."

"He was governor of the town, hey?" Heath asked. "Why? Because he helped put it together or something?"

"Well, sort of. At least it seemed that way in the beginning. He turned out to be insane. He killed a bunch of the Woodbury residents because he had a vendetta against Rick. He really wanted to take over the prison."

"I suppose if you think about it, a prison is a secure place to be right now." Heath noted.

"Oh it was. Until the Governor came with a new group of followers and ruined everything. We couldn't stay. Ever since then, I've been careful about people that 'run towns'."

"How many other 'governors' have you run in to?" Heath asked.

"Not many, though we ran into a guy that ran a town where they ate people." Sasha said, now sipping her drink. The memory of those people eating Bob was still fresh.

"You ran into cannibals?" Heath whispered.

Sasha nodded.

"It was pretty horrible. You wouldn't believe what we had to do to get away from them. One of them ate my boyfriend's leg. That's a hard thing to get past."

"Sasha...I would've sworn you were bullshitting here but with the way things are, I believe you! Damn! You've been through hell."

"Yes, we have. We all have. And all I want is a safe place to live now. I need to know that whoever really runs things here, isn't nuts." she said, cutting the bullshit. But Heath gave her a blank stare.

"Deanna is going through a hard time because of Reg. But she isn't nuts. She'll find her way back." Heath said, just as Rosita walked up on them.

"Heath, right?" Rosita asked and Sasha could see, that Rosita knew she had struck out with him. Sasha walked off and decided to sit outside for awhile, to get some night air. She stood on a patio and stared up at the stars. She wondered if there was any place left on this planet, that was devoid of walking corpses?

Someone else came out and Sasha turned in anticipation of seeing Abraham or someone from her group. Instead, she found herself face to face with Negan, who had a drink in his hand. He set it down on a table and moved to stand next to her.

"Nice night." he said.

"Do you think so?" Sasha replied.

Negan shrugged.

"I don't hear any growling and I can't smell the shit or piss of the dead, from miles away, so yeah, I think it's a nice night." he said.

Sasha didn't reply to that. She supposed those requirements could be the very definition of a 'nice night' in this world.

"So I noticed that you were pretty chatty with Heath."

"Is that a crime? Maybe I was just trying to get to know him."

"No, but it just looked as if you were doing all the talking. I think Heath is in to Olivia."

Sasha raised a brow.

"I'm not interested in Heath."

"I'm sure your red headed boyfriend will be glad of that. What's his name again?"

"Abraham. And why don't you go back in and talk to him for yourself. You'll find he's a nice guy."

Negan grinned!

"Says who? I don't think men that are seeing two women at a time, are 'nice guys'. Do you?"

Sasha took a deep breath.

"It's not what it looks like."

"It looks like Rosita is **VERY** hurt here. And the thing is, this community is too small for that kind of bullshit. That kind of crap gets people killed. You know jealous lovers and shit." Negan said, his eyes probing into hers.

"I didn't realize Rosita and you were close." Sasha said, looking away from him. This was none of his business! This man had come out of nowhere, as far as she was concerned and now he was inserting himself into her private life!

"I don't think I've said dick to her tonight. It's all over her face. I mean she wants to tear your hair out. I'm out here because I'm worried for your safety." he said, smiling at her.

"And you're out here to protect me?" Sasha asked sarcastically.

Negan reached for the front of the shirt she was wearing and pulled on it teasingly.

"What I'm saying is that Alexandria is a 'safe-zone'. It's too small for love triangles. And if I see any signs at all that your Abraham isn't handling his shit, I will handle it for him."

Sasha removed his hand from her shirt and glared at him.

"Handle it how?" she asked, her tone challenging.

"Oh! You thought I meant in some kind of violent manner? No ma'am! What I meant is I'm going to be forced to take one of you lovely ladies, off Mr. Ford's hands. Just to even things out."

"Then take Rosita." Sasha found herself saying. She knew that wasn't very nice. She knew it wasn't even very fair, since Rosita had every right to be hurt. But from the way Negan was looking at her, she had no doubt in her mind, that if he had to pick, it wouldn't be Rosita he'd be 'taking off of Abraham's hands'.

The patio door opened and Abraham stepped out. He didn't like what he was seeing already. He closed the door and walked over to Sasha. He placed a hand on the small of her back.

"What is this shit?" Abraham asked in a no-nonsense tone.

"Now what the hell kind of greeting is that, Abe? Damn! I'm just trying to get to know your people, after that crazy ass with the stick, beat up one of my men for no reason..."

"Pissing on the potatoes sounds like reason enough to me." Abraham said, his eyes challenging Negan's.

"That was an accident." Negan said coolly. Sasha's eyes widened!

"In what way?" she asked with disbelief.

"I don't know. Simon told me it was an accident. If you want a full explanation, you'll have to ask him." Negan said, just as music began to play. A slow song. Negan grinned again and reached for Sasha's hand.

"This is our song, Sasha, I can feel it! Let's start over, make friends and go in here and dance. Abe, you don't mind, do you?"

Before Abraham could say something that told the bald truth about how he felt about Negan's question, Sasha ran interference.

"Thank you but no. Abraham and I have to find a new place to live. So..."

"Oh you can have your house back. I'm staying with my sister. You know she puts up a strong act but she needs looking after. But tomorrow there will be some re-assigning of homes, if you know what I mean." Negan said and started towards the patio door.

But Abraham stopped him.

"What do you mean 're-assigning'?"

Negan took a deep breath and turned back to face them.

"No one is getting a house to themselves. We don't have the room for that kind of shit, okay? That's what I mean. You two have a pleasant evening." Negan said and returned inside the house. Sasha gaped at Abraham!

"That means he's going to throw Rosita out! Oh my God..."

"Honey, there are plenty of people she can bunk with, okay? It'll be fine. We'll be fine. So now that that fucker has vacated **YOUR** house, let's go home."

"And leave the party? Abraham, we're supposed to be getting information."

"That isn't what **WE'RE** supposed to be doing tonight." Abraham argued and pulled Sasha into a kiss, their mouths merging as one and Sasha could not help but moan against his lips. Had she felt this way about him this whole time and had not known it? It didn't seem possible.

But it was more than possible, something that Abraham made clear as he pulled her away from Deanna's house under the cover of darkness and back to her own. Sasha scarcely remembered her and Abraham undressing frantically, then his grasping her about the waist and impaling her on his engorged organ. She hazily recalled jerking up and down hard on his searing shaft, her buttocks slamming against his swollen seed sac. She remembered how Abraham's mouth had softly nibbled at her breasts, until she thought she would die from the shockwaves of passion that rushed through her blood.

And when Abraham's demanding body finally released his fiery passion within her, Sasha collapsed in his arms, exhausted. Abraham tightened his arms around her. He had been right about how much they belonged together and could've kicked himself for even waiting this long to tell her how he really felt about her. Sated and with that final thought on his mind, Abraham fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

When Sasha awoke the next morning, she realized she had overslept! She was supposed to relieve Morgan on guard duty like an hour ago! She sat up and looked at Abraham's empty space along with the note he left.

 _Couldn't bear to wake you. Took your guard duty shift! Love you!_

Sasha smiled and blinked as she folded up the note and went about getting up out of bed. She would relieve Abraham as soon as she showered and changed. She thought maybe there was a yogurt she could eat on her way to her post. She glanced out of the window and as she pulled out clothes from a drawer to wear, Sasha stopped and stared.

There were tables set up and Negan's people had clipboards! Deanna was out there, standing next to her brother, arguing with people. What the hell was going on?

Sasha's mind went back to Negan's 're-assigning' comment and she just knew something bad was up! She caught sight of Abraham, standing next to Rick and he didn't look especially thrilled either. Sasha grabbed some clothes and hurried towards the bathroom to shower! The sooner she got down there, the sooner she'd find out what the hell Negan was planning to make their lives miserable!


	4. Chapter 4

"I can't believe this shit!" Abraham muttered.

"Who are you telling?" Glenn agreed.

"I'm sorry, did one of you have something to say?" Negan asked, holding his bat as Sasha, now dressed and ready for the day, hurried over to stand with Abraham, Glenn, Rick and the rest of their group. The other residents of Alexandria were going about their daily business.

Rosita answered him.

"We've been pulling our weight around here! Your people don't even know how to fire guns! We've been giving self defense lessons on how to handle one of those things out there, if they come across one!" Rosita yelled.

"Honey," Simon said condescendingly, "why the hell would anyone here ever see one of those things? Huh? This is a gated community. We're here to protect everyone. No one here needs to learn any 'defense'."

"Yeah," Negan agreed as Dwight handed him a clipboard. "Now we have a list of what everyone has been doing here. Let's see...Rick Grimes, could you please step forward."

Rick rolled his eyes and stepped into view. Jessie and Michonne looked fearful.

"Mr. Rick Grimes...now it says here, according to my sister and **DEAD** brother-in-law, that you used to be some kind of half assed Sheriff back down South. Is that true?"

Rick locked eyes with Negan.

"Is it true that I used to be sheriff or half-assed?"

Negan burst out laughing, then looked around at his men!

"We have a comedian here! You know what 'Rick', you're on tonight! You will entertain us with a stand up routine that rivals no other. Seven tonight sharp. So we now know how you're going to earn your keep around here, Mr. Funnyman!"

Rick looked around at everyone. Was this bastard serious?

"Deanna made me sheriff." he said coolly.

"We don't need a fucking sheriff, Rick! Myself and my men are the law here. Now if you don't want to be the comedy dinner act, every night, then you'd better leave here at once. And I **MIGHT** let you back in if you bring me something useful to the citizens of Alexandria." Negan said, grinning.

Spencer, who was standing next to Sherry, spoke up.

"Uncle Negan, come on! I mean the man has kids."

Negan looked at Spencer, who shrunk under his gaze. He then turned back to Rick.

"Get the fuck out and bring me something! You won't be allowed back in here until you produce, are we clear, Sheriff?"

Rick turned and looked at Carl, who went in the house to get Judith. Negan interrupted again.

"Uh no, Rick. The kids stay here."

Rick slowly turned around.

"Excuse me?"

"Come on! How are you going to provide for them out in the wild? Hell, we'll look after them until you can prove that you're not dead weight around here." Negan said in a tone that sounded sincere, sort of.

Michonne moved to whisper in Rick's ear.

"We're outnumbered. I will take care of Carl and Judith. Go."

Negan could see that Michonne was talking sense to Rick, or he hoped she was. Rick turned and walked towards the house. Negan coughed loudly!

"Oh Rick? Where are you going? The gate is that way!"

Darryl stepped forward!

"Fuck you! You know he needs supplies to scavenge! I suppose he's supposed to go on foot?"

"What is your fucking name again?" Negan asked, looking him up and down.

"None of your goddamned business!" was Darryl's answer. Aaron tried to calm him down but Heath and Simon, along with two other men, hurried towards Darryl and restrained him!

"Put him in the cells." Negan told them and Darryl was dragged off. He cursed and someone put a bag over his head!

Morgan could see that this shit was getting real and clutched his stick! Negan eyed him.

"Hey Mr. Stick Man! You're the new sheriff." Negan announced and then looked on his clipboard again.

"Glenn Rhee?" he asked and made a show of looking around. Glenn rolled his eyes and stepped forward. Maggie swallowed hard and Carol gripped her arm.

"Now I don't see anything down for you except scavenging... and some bullshit about my boy Nicholas!" Negan called out. Nicholas stepped forward and glared at Glenn!

"What is this shit all about, Nicholas?" Negan asked.

"He's been lying and saying I got one of his people killed. That's not what happened. Glenn took the lead on that scavenge. He acted like such a big shot and he got your nephew killed." Nicholas lied.

"That's a lie." Glenn said calmly. "And you panicked and got Noah killed."

"Alright, alright." Negan sighed. Aiden had always been kind of a prick. Reg had raised the boys to be Ivy League assholes. They couldn't hunt, fish or pull a goat out of their asses. He sort of believed Glenn, actually.

Maggie stepped forward.

"Negan? We met last night at the party. I'm Maggie."

Negan smiled at her.

"Well of course I remember you! How are you doing on this fine day?"

Maggie tried not to look disgusted but she was truly sick of this asshole! And where was Deanna? Where was she?! Why was she allowing her brother to do these things?

"I'd be better if you weren't trying to throw my husband out of here. We're expecting a child."

There were a few gasps from the crowd, those being from people that didn't know about the pregnancy. Simon looked a bit uncomfortable. Damn! She was kind of cute too! He guessed trying to have sex with her was out of the question until after the baby was born.

"You're pregnant?" Negan asked, rolling his eyes. _Jesus._

"Yes, I am. Denise confirmed it."

"She's a vet, isn't she?" someone yelled out.

"Now, now. That's almost a doctor and the only one we have around here for now." Negan said. He actually was making plans to kidnap another doctor from one of the neighboring communities. But Denise would do for now.

"Well," Negan continued, "that puts us in a bit of a pickle, doesn't it? I mean Glenn, you can't just sit around here and do nothing. You have a child to provide for. Like Rick has children-plural, to look after. Maggie will be looked after by friends and family while you go and find me something useful for the community. Morgan? Can you show Glenn to the gate?"

Maggie suddenly felt sick and she grabbed Glenn and held him tightly! Rosita had had enough! She was going out with Rick and Glenn and help them find shit so they could get back in here!

"I'm leaving too!" Rosita announced. Negan raised a brow.

"Now why would you be going anywhere, Lovely Rosita? Huh? You just said yourself you were teaching people self defense."

"And you just told me it wasn't needed." was Rosita's snarky reply. Abraham moved towards her.

"No. Stay here and look after Maggie, Carl and Judith." Abraham said in a low tone of voice.

"Which brings us to Abraham Ford! It says here you were in the military. You should be used to following orders then. The same goes for you. Get out there and bring me something we can all use, and I might think about letting you back in." Negan said. Sasha made her presence known by moving up to the front.

"I'm going too. And I'm taking the time to pack some stuff!" she said. Negan looked from her to Abraham.

"What the hell kind of man are you anyway, Red? Seriously, you're going to let your women do the work for you?"

Abraham lunged towards Negan and he was quickly overpowered by some of Negan's men! Negan swung his bat and bent down so he could look in Abraham's face.

"You know what's going to happen now? I'll tell you. I'm going to throw you out of here and it won't matter **WHAT** you bring back here. You will have to find another home someplace else."

"Fine!" Sasha snapped. "We're going now!"

Negan pretended to look surprised!

"Oh I'm sorry, Sasha honey, I wasn't finished. See Abraham is only going to be able to take one woman with him. Either Rosita or yourself. And I've actually decided that Rosita here, just wouldn't fit in here in Alexandria. So you're staying."

Abraham looked absolutely horrified! Michonne looked at Carol, who looked just as stunned. Glenn was still holding Maggie and Rick and Morgan could hear everything from the gate.

"I'm not staying here." Sasha said coolly. Negan's response to that was to grab Rosita by the hair and shove her down onto her knees!

"I will bash her pretty head in with Lucille here, if I don't get some cooperation around here. " he said in a pleasant sounding tone. "Now I hate to do this kind of shit...you know, threatening women. But I'm doing this for your own good. You are just too damned delicate looking to be out in the wild. So **YOU** stay, she goes...or else she really goes, if you know what I mean!"

Sasha locked eyes with a terrified Rosita, then looked at Abraham, who was deathly still. She nodded.

"Fine, I'll stay." Sasha said brusquely.

"Good. Now was that so hard? I will even give everyone here time to say goodbye." Negan said, just as Olivia came from around a corner with Ron. They had been grilling hot dogs and hamburgers and the first batch was ready. Ron, seeing what was going on, grinned! He knew Negan would get Rick and those fucks the hell out of here! It was a shame Carl wasn't leaving as well.

Rosita was hugged by both Eugene and Michonne. They then walked over to the gate towards Morgan and Rick.

"What's the plan?" Michonne asked. She did not comment on how deathly quiet Jessie Peterson had been. She had sensed a closeness between her and Rick. The least she could've done is spoken up on Rick's behalf.

But then again, there was a part of Michonne that couldn't blame her. Look at what happened the last time she defended Rick publicly.

"The plan is that Carol, Darryl and myself, buried some guns nearby, in case of trouble. We dig them up and for now, look for things that this piece of shit might like." Rick huffed.

"That's it!" Glenn hissed. "We just give in?"

"I have a plan," Morgan said, "why don't we just take things from the supply tent, give them to you and make it appear as if you've 'found' them somewhere. Negan and his men weren't here when they were brought in."

"Yes, but others were." Rick said. "But if things get desperate, do it. I think we can find enough to get back in here. But if we do, we have to kill Negan. There is no other way."

Rosita, who had walked away briefly, made her way over to them.

"Carol is being allowed to fix us sandwiches. Nothing to drink." she said in a surly manner.

Denise and Tara took Maggie to the infirmary to make sure that she was alright after the shock. That left Abraham and Sasha alone.

"I'll be back before nightfall." Abraham said, kissing her hands.

"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself." Sasha assured him.

Abraham nodded but didn't want to let go of her hands, or her. He didn't know what he would find when he returned here.. **.IF** he returned here. He honestly didn't believe anything they found would be good enough for Negan. Because his reasons for throwing them out were bullshit!

"Hey," Sasha said, trying to cheer him up, "we're not going to let him win. I will leave this place in the middle of the night, if that's what it takes for us to be together."

Abraham nodded but he was stunned and pissed off. They had not been prepared for Negan or his people. They had not been prepared for the people already here, to just go along with what he said. He had expected some support from them.

"Where the hell is Deanna?" Abraham growled as they turned to walk towards the gate. His arm quickly enclosed around Sasha's waist as they neared Rick and the others.

"We'll get to her and let her know what her brother is doing. She's feeling low because of Reg and Aiden. She's not herself. We'll get her back on her feet and get you all back in here."

"He needs to die, you know that, don't you? We can't stay here with him." Abraham said. Sasha nodded.

"I have no problem with that." she answered, as Morgan opened the gate reluctantly. Abraham's lips met hers and Sasha returned his kisses eagerly, before they were stopped! Simon shoved Abraham away from Sasha and out of the gate!

"Get going, Red! All of you, the quicker you find something, the sooner you can prove you're not lazy asses!" he yelled. Morgan held his temper before closing the gate behind Rick, Glenn, Rosita and Abraham. Once that was done, Simon walked up to Morgan.

"You make sure that your buddy Darryl, only gets the end butt of a loaf of bread for dinner. And water, are we clear?"

Morgan did not answer him and no one was going to make him. Simon, sensing his slight insanity, subtly backed off, winked at Sasha and then returned to doing the nothing he did around there. Sasha mouthed 'I love you' to Abraham, before watching Rosita grab his arm and walk off.

She walked over to Michonne.

"What now?" she asked.

"Do as Rick says. Stay calm. For now this place is not in our control."

"I get that but we need to get to Deanna." Sasha whispered. Michonne looked around.

"I don't see Spencer anywhere. Maybe he's inside with her?

Meanwhile, Negan picked up his bat and whistled his way into his sister's house and closed the door. He quickly looked out of the window, before heading to the basement. Then, he began a trek down the basement steps, turning right to approach a bar, with three barstools in front of it.

Negan sat on one and pressed a button underneath it. It slowly descended into the floor until he disappeared. The barstool soon returned to the basement empty. Once he was at his destination, 'Negan's' demeanor changed drastically. He handed his bat to Beth Greene, who was dressed in a dark blue skirt suit! Her long blonde hair was pinned up in a severe bun.

"How is it going Special Agent Negan?" Beth asked. She wanted to ask about her sister, whom she could see on the monitor, had not taken Glenn's exit well.

"About as well as can be expected, Miss Greene." Special Agent Negan replied, before he walked through three rooms to a situation conference room. This apocalypse was about to come to an end. But whether or not everyone still living, could re-inter grate back into society, would be a different story altogether.

Negan sat down at the head of the table and nodded to someone that a few members of Rick's group, would be very surprised to see indeed. His name was Dr. Edwin Jenner... 


	5. Chapter 5

Operation 'Weapon X' had gone horribly wrong.

It had begun as a bio chemical that was only to be used on the enemy during warfare. But it had needed tweaking. The walkers were supposed to help defeat the enemy. They in turn, would then be obliterated via an explosion, so that no trace evidence could be examined by an enemy.

But the formula was stolen. By whom, no one was sure but that person made certain that the virus became airborne and this new, effed up world was the result. Negan didn't actually care about the how or why anymore. This world, or at least this country, had to be cleaned up. Society had to resume. A civilized one.

Dr. Edwin Jenner was part of the top secret rebuild. Dr. Jenner and many, many people, that lived under the apocalyptic world above them. For what most people in this country did not know, was that there had always been a safe, underground world, for members of government, dignitaries, people with money, etc., in case of some kind of disaster that threatened man kind.

Deanna Monroe walked into the room wearing a black, skirt suit and looking very different from the haggard, stricken woman of Alexandria that had supposedly lost her husband and son. Well, she had actually lost Aiden. But not Reg.

For Dr. Edwin Jenner, was one of many doctors, who discovered a cure. An ass backwards one, Negan thought, but it was a cure nonetheless. A drug was developed that was capable of bringing people back to life that had **NOT** been bitten or eaten on by the undead. Meaning if you had been shot, stabbed, died of disease...anything other than having been bitten or infected, then a drug dubbed 'Special X', could bring you back to life.

Unfortunately for Aiden Monroe, being reborn was not an option. But Reg Monroe was in the infirmary, recovering from being stabbed by none other than Dr. Pete Anderson. He too was in the infirmary. And from there, Pete would be held in the underground detention center.

Negan glanced over at his sister, who rubbed her eyes wearily. Dr. Jenner opened up a laptop to confer with none other than Phillip Blake, who was known to some members of Rick's group as 'The Governor'. He was in charge of a section of the southern region of the United States. Negan didn't like him. Phillip had actually been detained after he had been brought back to life, but apparently had proven himself in someway, and was now a lead agent as well.

Deanna sat next to Negan, who glanced at her.

"How is Reg feeling?" Negan whispered.

"Terrible. But he's coming along." Deanna said and smiled a thanks at Beth, who brought her a cup of coffee, then disappeared to sit at a desk outside of the room. There was wi-fi underground as well but it was not detectable in the world above.

"I almost hate looking at her." Deanna murmured, referring to Beth.

"There's nothing to be done about it. She knows how things have to be for now." Negan said, his focus now on Jenner and Phillip.

"Hey," Negan called out, "you want to fill us in 'Governor' on what's going on in your section?"

Phillip could just barely make out Negan on his end. He thought about pretending he hadn't heard the loud mouthed bastard, but nixed that idea. Phillip could not help but think how lucky this apocalypse had been for him. How he had had a nothing job before the world went to hell and now he was working for the government, in charge of reshaping this world only because everyone else that would've been able to do such a thing, was dead.

That's what pissed him off about Negan. He was no different than him. He had been a nobody, a loudmouthed one, who would've never been considered for this sort of work, if there were actual government agents left. And yet Phillip could tell that Negan thought he was better than him.

Dr. Jenner interrupted, to keep things on point.

"Agent Blake was telling us how things are going with Shane Walsh. He may be ready to become a regional agent in a little over a week. But we were thinking that maybe his transition would be easier if he could see someone from before. Like Miss Greene." Edwin suggested.

Deanna frowned and looked in a file she had in front of her. As a member of Congress, she had been instrumental in making sure this whole operation was fully funded and went smoothly. She could not say it had been 'smooth'. One son was dead and the other she was lying to, along with a whole community of people. But the money put into just building the underground facilities, had been well worth it. There were subways that took people not only to other counties in a state, but there was also a 'super subway' that could take someone to another state, while underground.

She addressed Agent Blake.

"Agent Blake, Congresswoman Monroe here. It says here in Miss Greene's file, that you murdered her father. Beheaded him right in front of her. I'm supposed to send her down there to meet with you, to speak with Mr. Walsh? Is that what you're asking?" Deanna asked in disbelief.

"Congresswoman, her father **IS** alive and in our rehab center. He's been given an artificial leg and his head, miraculously, was reattached Phillip said casually but Negan leaned forward.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Negan asked just as casually. "Seriously, she's not going to want to look at your one eyed ass! Now her father's name is Herschel, right? Shane knew him, so that's the extent of the family reunion he's getting, are we clear?"

Phillip took a deep breath and was about to answer when Dr. Jenner interrupted.

"Agent Blake, we'll speak later." he said and Phillip Blake's face disappeared from the laptop. He then swung his chair around so that he was facing Negan and Deanna.

"Do you always have to rattle him, Negan? He's doing what you're doing. Trying to access who is fit for reintegration into our society, once we find a cure for this epidemic. Why do you have to act as if you're so much better than him?" Dr. Jenner asked. Deanna scoffed!

"Really, doctor? You're comparing my brother to that animal? I took video of everyone from Rick's group and 'The Governor' came up with at least three of them. Negan has never cut off heads and tried to 'study' them." Deanna reminded him.

"No but his leadership isn't exactly ideal either." Dr. Jenner said, now looking from Deanna to Negan. But Negan shrugged.

"Look, we've all been given carte blanche on how to run things in our sectors. Our jobs, my sister and I, are to access who probably won't be fit for the new world-however we see fit. Your job is to find a goddamned cure, so that when people die, they don't turn into one of those things walking the earth right now." Negan reminded him.

"I know that. Better than anyone. And Miss Greene understands that certain distasteful sacrifices have to be made to get our world back to what it was. I don't like it either, Negan. I am very fond of her myself."

Negan grinned!

"Oh that's clear! She's a bit young for you, isn't she, doctor?"

Dr. Jenner gave Negan a dirty, embarrassed look and Deanna decided to run interference. She stood up, walked over to the door and asked Beth to step inside. Beth got up from her desk and walked into the room. She was vaguely aware of what she was about to be asked, but not the specifics.

"Beth," Deanna said in a kindly tone, "I'm sure you know that Shane Walsh has been given the same drug that you were. He has been in a detention center for some time. We think he could be trusted, with the proper training, to be an agent for some southern region. But it would probably help his recovery, psychologically, if he could see a familiar face. Would you be willing to go back to Georgia and meet with him?"

Negan could see that Beth was less than thrilled by the prospect and eyed Jenner. Dr. Jenner leaned forward.

"Beth, I would accompany you, of course."

 _I bet! Negan thought._

If Beth thought that idea was good or bad, it was not evident by her expression. She took a deep breath and spoke.

"We all know that I am not the only person Shane needs to see."

Dr. Jenner looked confused.

"You mean your father? Beth, we want to make sure he's strong enough before he engages in this type of interaction..."

"Dr. Jenner, with all due respect, I'm talking about Judith. Shane's daughter. He needs to see her. He needs to know he has something to go on for." Beth said gently. Deanna looked confused, but Negan wasn't!

"Holy shit! You've seen him already, haven't you?" Negan asked accusingly, before looking at Jenner. It was clear from the look on Dr. Jenner's face, that the thought had never occurred to him. But with underground transportation being what it was, Beth could've very well used the super subway and traveled back down south to meet with Shane.

"I have." Beth said quietly.

"And you faced Agent Blake?" Deanna asked curiously.

"No, Congresswoman, he was busy terrorizing a community. Kind of like what Agent Negan is doing to my sister and our friends." Beth responded now giving Negan a hard look, that was met with a grin!

"Why Beth Greene! Have you been watching the secret video that you **AREN'T** supposed to be looking at down here? Jenner, what is this shit? Your girl is out of line!" Negan half yelled, while still grinning. Deanna put a hand on Negan's wrist. Negan was actually her younger, half brother. They had had different fathers. Their mother(in Deanna's opinion) had lost her damned mind and left her father, for a low brow, earthier man, who in turn, fathered Negan.

Negan was...well, Negan. Reg had just barely tolerated him because of his fondness for Negan's late wife, Lucille. Everyone had loved her, actually, and Deanna worried a bit, when her brother had named that insane looking bat after her. But maybe that was his way of grieving. Maybe.

"Negan, why don't you get back to Alexandria? You'll be missed before I am." Deanna said knowingly and Negan nodded. He got up and gave Beth and Dr. Jenner looks that could only be read as 'warnings', before he left the conference room. Beth seemed visibly relieved when he left.

"I know he's hard to take at times, but he is just as committed to making sure the world we live in after this is over, is civilized." Deanna said.

"He's acting like an animal up there, Deanna." Dr. Jenner said. "And frankly, I think we need to consider asking Rick Grimes to take over."

Deanna shook her head.

"We've discussed this before. No."

Dr. Jenner now looked at Beth.

"Could you excuse us?" he asked. Beth nodded and turned to leave the room. She closed the conference door room behind her and found that Negan had just changed back into his telltale leather jacket outfit with a bat to match.

"You know, Sasha would never like you." Beth said quietly.

"Oh, so you **HAVE** been watching the video. You know that's against the rules." Negan said, now walking over to a mirror and checking himself over.

"I'm concerned. I'm concerned about my pregnant sister's husband being thrown out to fend for himself! I was not there when Sasha lost Bob and Tyrese, but it looks like she's found something with Abraham. You threw him out because you think you can get to know her better with him gone. And you just hate Rick." Beth said in a quiet, matter-of-fact tone.

Negan turned from the mirror and stared at her.

"Stop spying on me. Stop watching the video feed or I'm going to give you something 'interesting' to watch. How about I fuck your sister while her husband is gone, huh? Would you like to watch that?"

"No," Beth said bravely, "and I don't think your sister or Dr. Jenner would like that either."

Negan didn't respond to that. He just grinned at Beth before looking over at a surveillance expert that had just walked in.

"You're clear to return to the congress woman's basement. No one is in the house at all." he told Negan. Negan nodded and sat back on the barstool that would return him to a world that no one envisioned.

Meanwhile, Deanna and Dr. Jenner were talking...

"Don't worry about my brother. Don't even worry about Agent Blake. They are doing what they were told to do. They are culling the herd. They are weeding out who will not recover from the trauma of this apocalypse, from the people that will be instrumental in making sure a new world thrives. What are **YOU** doing about making sure that when people die of anything else, they don't turn into one of those things?" Deanna asked in a no nonsense tone.

Dr. Jenner folded his arms.

"We're at a testing point." he said.

"A testing point? What does that mean?"

"It means I need test subjects, Deanna. I need for someone to bring me dying people. People that are sick from anything other than what's taken over the world, so I can give them the serum and see if they actually stay dead."

"Okay, I'll tell Negan to do some searching. Inform Agent Blake to do the same. Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to visit my husband." Deanna said and walked out of the room. Dr. Jenner stared after her, unsettled by the meeting that had taken place today. There was one more step to rebuilding their world.

They needed children. And while Beth's sister was an exception, women afraid of miscarriages in this climate, were not going to risk getting pregnant. That needed to change. He smiled at Beth, who was staring at him via one of the conference room windows, before leaving the room himself. First the test subjects, then...

Then ensuring the future of their world, with children.

* * *

There was little to no conversation between Rick, Glenn, Abraham and Rosita, as they trudged down the road, away from the Alexandria gated community.

A walker veered into the road and Glenn took care of it, stabbing it in the head with a knife he carried on him. The thing dropped into the road and Abraham ran up to it and kicked it's head off! It went flying into the woods.

"Was that really necessary?" Rosita asked in a snarky tone.

Abraham did not answer and Rick stopped walking and looked back at the three of them.

"Look, we'll find some stuff and get back in there. Once we are back in, we'll begin to plan a way to kill Negan, Simon and whoever else gets in our way." Rick said.

"You think he has more people outside of Alexandria?" Glenn asked. "Beside Dwight, Sherry and Heath?"

"Yes and don't forget the people IN Alexandria. If it was between him and us newbies, Negan is going to win every time. We can't have that." Rick said.

"Then why don't we just leave?" Rosita suggested. "It just doesn't seem worth it."

"We're not fucking leaving!" Abraham snapped. "We've got beer, walls, air-conditioning and comfy beds! We're not going any goddamned where!"

"Abraham's right," Glenn said, "and this forced scavenging is crap. He's not going to let us back in even if we bring him things he does like."

Rick nodded.

"I know. So for now, we need to hole up someplace else. There's a cabin I want to show you. When we first got here, Carol, Darryl and I hid some guns near it. We'll stay there until we think of our next move." Rick said. Then he and Glenn began walking together and cut through the woods. Rosita started to follow after them when she saw that Abraham was not moving.

"What, Abraham? Are you actually going to go back and confront Negan? He told us all what the deal was. So let's catch up with Rick and come up with a plan." Rosita said.

Abraham eyed her.

"You're not fucking with me, are you?"

"What are you talking about?" Rosita asked, annoyed.

"I think it's goddamned clear that I was thrown out so Negan could his hands on Sasha. But why you?"

"Well 'dumb-ass', it's clear that Negan doesn't want you to be lonely while you're out here. Now can we go?"

"Oh believe me, I thought of that. Problem is a fucker like Negan wouldn't give two shits if I was so lonely, that I humped a walker or bear."

Rosita walked up to him.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Are you in on this shit with him? You were talking to him last night at the party for a long time. If you two cooked this up, then just tell the truth, Rosita. You owe me that."

For that remark, Abraham received a punch to the stomach that made his knees buckle slightly! Rosita shook her head in disgust!

"I'm not going to bother to answer that. And I hope you go batshit crazy wondering if Negan is fucking Sasha or not. I'm going to go and catch up with Rick and Glenn. I don't care where you go." she said and walked off. Abraham took a moment to get his bearings, then stared back down the road to Alexandria. Praying that Sasha would not be hurt in anyway during his exile, he turned and trekked through the woods after Rosita, Glenn and Rick.


	6. Chapter 6

Carol walked towards the small structure that served as a 'Sheriff's Station'. She noticed Negan emerge from Deanna's house with his bat and walked a little faster. She had no doubt that Rick, Glenn, Abraham and Rosita were thinking of someway back in here. Carol knew it was up to them to find some way to make that task easier for them.

When she arrived at the station, Morgan was inside, peering out of the window. He was watching Negan.

"What do you think?" Carol asked, closing the door.

Morgan folded his arms.

"I think I'm wondering who's side Deanna's on? Negan and her were inside her house a long time. I think she's given him control of this place."

"So that means there is no trying to appeal to her." Carol noted.

Morgan turned to face her.

"We might have to consider getting rid of her too."

"Fine. Whatever. Now what about Darryl?"

"He's in the cells, right?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah."

"Are they guarded?"

"No. But Negan's men confiscated the keys. I don't know how long Negan plans to keep him in there." Carol said.

"We have to assume forever. And we have to assume that he has no plans to let the others back in here, despite what he said." he said grimly. Carol could see he had something else on his mind.

"What? You're thinking something."

"I think we should leave. Just get in the vehicles that we came in and leave."

"We came in one of the RV's and no." Carol said firmly.

"Look, I was out there in that mess as long as you all were. I get that what's here is nice and safe and it reminds you of what once was. But even when this stuff wasn't happening, I wasn't taking any shit off of anyone." Morgan told her.

Carol looked away. She could not say the same.

"We'll wait until they come back with some stuff. But if Negan keeps them out, I'm going with them." Morgan said.

"So that's the way you want to play this?" Carol asked.

"You have a better plan? Seriously, Carol, none of the people that were already here, saw fit to tell any of us that this man lived here! Why? And I know you said that Deanna and her husband were in charge, but there is no way I believe that now." Morgan told her.

"I'm going to go and talk to Deanna. There's something else going on here." she said and turned to leave the office.

"Be careful," Morgan warned, "for all we know, Deanna might not have much choice in all of this either."

* * *

It was getting dark as Sasha sat at her perch in the guard tower. It was getting slightly nippy and she knew Abraham didn't have a coat. Neither did Rick or Glenn and she didn't really remember what Rosita had been wearing. When Sasha thought of her, all she could see was Negan threatening her with that knife.

Sasha looked through the small duffle bag she had brought on her watch, and pulled out one of the few Christmas decorations that had been on the tree her and Abraham had found. It was a red sled that looked as if it had made out of popsicle sticks. It had a bit of tinsel on it as well. She stared at it and wondered if Abraham would be back in Alexandria by the time the tree was put up? Would Rick, Glenn and Rosita be welcome as well? Those thoughts made Sasha feel helpless. They couldn't just sit around and wonder about their fate here! They had to begin to take control around here like they had before Negan arrived.

She turned her head slightly, as the sound of someone climbing up into the tower, pulled her from her thoughts. Morgan was taking over for her tonight. She began to gather her things, when her replacement arrived. And it was not Morgan.

It was Negan.

Negan smiled at her and got a scowl in return. He ignored it, set down 'Lucille' and handed her a hot mug of cocoa. Sasha opened up the top and sniffed it a little.

"What else is in here?" she asked suspiciously.

"Bourbon. I thought you could use it." Negan said, looking around. "Damn! It's pretty lonely up here."

"Morgan is coming to relieve me." Sasha said, setting down the cocoa.

"I told him I would cover for him tonight. He's out 'sheriffing'. Making sure that our community is safe and locked up tight for the night."

"Oh." was all Sasha said to that. She began to gather up her things. She had nothing more to say to the man that had thrown Abraham out of here.

"So, you're not going to drink that?" Negan asked.

"No."

"Why? Because I brought it to you? That's pretty prejudiced, Sasha."

"I'm prejudiced? How is that?"

"You won't drink the cocoa because I gave it to you! But if anyone else had..."

"I'm not drinking the cocoa because it has liquor in it! Goodnight!" Sasha huffed and tried to move around him, but Negan blocked her way.

"Come on! Cut me some slack. I'm trying to be nice here."

Sasha raised a brow.

"If you want to be nice, then let Abraham back in here."

"Just Abraham? Not Rick or Glenn? Or even poor little Rosita?"

"You know what I mean."

"Hmmm." was all Negan said to that. Sasha shivered briefly and Negan took off his leather jacket and handed it to her. Sasha shook her head! There was no way she was wearing that!

"No. Thank you. Once I get back home I'll be fine." she said and moved around him to leave. Negan did nothing to stop her, but he did not take his eyes off of her until she had climbed down.

 _Well, damn, Negan thought. That went well._

He put his jacket back on and sat at the look out spot. Sasha's attitude towards him was understandable-he guessed. But really, how long had she really known Abraham? Not long enough to be this pissy over him. At least that's the way Negan saw it.

He frowned when he realized he was sitting on something. He stood back up and reached down to pick up what looked like a broken sled. It was a Christmas decoration or something. Negan then remembered the loot Sasha and Abraham had brought into the community last night. There had been a Christmas tree among other things. Personally, he would've left that wherever the hell he had found it. And Abraham didn't seem like the Christmas tree type either.

No. That tree and this decoration, was all Sasha. The broken decoration. He put it into his leather jacket pocket. He would fix it later and then give it back to her. He sat back down and picked up the spiked cocoa that Sasha had refused. It was still hot. Negan sipped it slowly, thinking that this guard duty shit was for the birds! He would give it another five minutes then force either Heath or Dwight to take over.

* * *

The cabin Rick, Glenn, Abraham and Rosita was staying in, had had supplies, including canned goods and lanterns with a battery life that was still good, even after all of this time.

Of course, the lanterns could not be used for fear of drawing walkers, but the moonlight was strong as it seeped in through a large, bay window. Rick was lying on a couch in the living room, Glenn slept in a room in the back and Rosita took another room. Abraham stood watch and stared out of the bay window. Rick watched him.

"We'll get back in there." Rick said quietly.

Abraham nodded and nothing was said between them for the longest time. Then Abraham spoke again.

"I'm thinking that maybe Sasha and I should go elsewhere."

Rick sat up from the couch slightly.

"You mean after we kill Negan?"

"Or before." was his response. Rick glanced back towards the bedrooms before answering.

"Rosita?"

"It's not fair to put Sasha through any shit she might have to take from her."

"Sasha is a big girl, Abraham. She knew you were with Rosita before her. And she had to know that she wouldn't be happy about the two of you."

Abraham shifted by his perch at the window.

"I didn't do it right. I mean I just jumped into it and I didn't give Rosita any thought. I should have."

"So you're regretting moving forward with Sasha?"

Abraham lifted a bushy, red brow.

"Hell no! But I dicked around about it. I should have said something to Sasha sooner and not let things with Rosita drag out."

Now Rick lifted a brow.

"Am I missing something? Just how long had you been interested in Sasha?"

"Truthfully?"

"Uh yeah." Rick said, now curious.

"Since the dog incident. Well maybe before."

"When we were all hot and half starved?"

Abraham sighed with lust from the memory!

"Yeah! Sasha had this streak of dirt running down her face and the way she chewed on that dog...a thing like that gets a man's blood pumping, you know?"

"No." Rick coughed. Abraham eyed him.

"Yeah you do. And let me give you some advice, take care of your own shit before it's too late."

"What are you talking about?" Rick asked.

"Oh come, Rick! This shit you're trying to start with Jessie. Michonne is right there in front of you. She's a real woman. She looked pretty sexy too eating that dog...but I could see something was between the two of you..."

"There is nothing between Michonne and I except a close friendship. And I don't know what I have with Jessie yet. With what happened to Pete, she doesn't think the boys would be too accepting of me."

"Fuck no, they wouldn't Rick! But I say don't worry about that and tell Michonne to cut the shit! She cares about you as much as you care about her." Abraham huffed.

"She said that?" Rick asked.

"Does Michonne look like the type that would have a conversation like that? With me? I just can tell. A man can tell." Abraham said solemnly. Rick said no more about anything, as he layed his head back down. He didn't know what to think about what Abraham had just told him. Even if there was something to be done about it, they were on the outs here. They needed to get back inside Alexandria before anything could happen.

* * *

Sasha realized she had forgotten the Christmas decoration and climbed back up into the watch tower. What she saw made her shake her head in disgust!

Negan was asleep! Asleep and snorting quite loudly! She was surprised it didn't draw walkers!

"Hey!" Sasha snapped. But Negan did not awaken. She walked over and shook him some. He slowly came awake. He grinned at her and then stretched.

"Damn! What time is it? My shift must be over soon..."

"It's been like ten minutes! I can't believe you! How could you sleep and put all of our lives in danger?"

Negan thought carefully before answering. He could either admit to being a lazy fuck, who was daydreaming about Sasha and fell asleep, or...

"I wasn't feeling too well. Sorry." he lied and coughed for effect. Sasha frowned.

"What's the matter with you? You were fine before."

"I think it's cold. My jacket here isn't cutting it. I'll be fine." Negan insisted, then faked another cough!

"Okay. Well I'll keep watch. Why don't you go home." Sasha said and looked around. She didn't see that sled anywhere. Maybe she was wrong about where she had left it? Maybe it had fallen out when she was walking to her house?

"Did you lose something?" Negan asked, knowing damned well what she was looking for.

"Yes, but it's not here. Just go. I'll keep watch."

"I'll get someone to cover. You already did like four hours." Negan said. "Come on, I'll walk you home."

"There really isn't any need for that," Sasha said wryly, "I'll stay until you find a replacement. And if you don't, I'll just stay."

"You know, Sasha, you're making me feel like shit here. I mean, I don't want you doing more than your fair share around here."

"As opposed to your not even beginning to do yours?" Sasha countered.

"I'm trying to be nice, here."

"If you want to be nice or even halfway decent, then let Abraham, Glenn, Rick and Rosita back in here. Without the silly conditions."

Negan appeared to think about it.

"What did I ask Rick to do? I asked him to be the supper time comedian. He thought he was too good to do that. It was **HIS** choice to leave. Glenn doesn't bring anything to the table and Abraham is..."

"Is what?"

"In. My. Way." Negan said coolly. "I'll send someone to relieve you. Goodnight."

Sasha took a deep breath as Negan climbed down from the sniper tower. This couldn't go on. They needed some kind of leverage. Something they could use to turn the tables on Negan and anyone who wanted him to be in charge. But what? None of them knew much about him except that he was Deanna's brother, and she wasn't helping matters.

Sasha decided that once her replacement arrived, she would go home, wait until after midnight, then break into Deanna's house. It was a risky move, with Negan and Spencer living there,but it was a chance she was willing to take to get Abraham back in here.

And if nothing came of her snooping, then Sasha had already decided that she would be leaving Alexandria to be with Abraham and the others.


	7. Chapter 7

Sasha's replacement was Carol, whom she let in on her plan. Carol didn't like it.

"Sasha, I could see it if Deanna was the only one in the house. She's so out of it you could probably rifle through the house in front of her, and she wouldn't know it! But Negan and Spencer are there. And I doubt either of them are light sleepers."

"Negan is sick. He'll probably be snoring away. And Spencer strikes me as the type that likes his sleep. I don't like it either but I am not waiting not one more day to be treated like a slave around here!"

"Okay, but I'm going with you." Carol told her.

"Who are you going to get to keep watch?"

"Morgan."

Sasha gave her a look of disbelief!

"Our new 'sheriff'? No!"

"He can be trusted." Carol argued.

"Oh please! Negan promoted him for some reason! Carol, we don't know anything about him except that Rick knew him from someplace. For all we know, he knew Negan before he arrived here."

Carol had never thought of that. But her sense was that that was not the case. But still, maybe it was better to be safe than sorry.

"I'll get Michonne."

"Okay, get her and tell her very little. If this goes badly, I don't want anyone else to get in trouble but me."

"I'm going to be with you. We'll both be in trouble."

"No we won't." Sasha said grimly. "You're going to say that you saw me sneaking into the house and followed after me. Just to make sure that I didn't get into any trouble."

Carol tilted her head.

"I don't understand. If I say that, then what are you going to say?"

"I'm going to say that I snuck in there to...be with Negan."

"Oh Sasha no!"

"He'll believe it and I'll just say I didn't know where his bedroom was. Now go and get Michonne!"

"If Abraham finds out about this..."

"I will make him understand. Now let's get moving. The sooner we possibly find **SOMETHING** that can give us the upper hand around here again, the better!" Sasha said.

* * *

Michonne didn't like what was going on. She didn't exactly **KNOW** what was about to go down, but she sensed that it could possibly go wrong. She just kept her mouth shut and covered for Sasha and Carol in the sniper tower.

Meanwhile, Sasha and Carol were wearing all black, as they moved in the darkness towards Deanna's house. Just as Sasha was about to creep around towards the front door, Carol grabbed her arm!

"They have a motion light!" she hissed. She bent down and picked up a pebble and tossed it on the porch. A light came on. Sasha and Carol hurried around the side of the house, just as Spencer looked out of the living room window, letting them know that he was still up.

"We'll just have to wait until he goes to bed!" Carol whispered. But Sasha, who was carrying a pen light, flashed it towards a basement window. She then looked back at Carol.

"No, we're not. Let's go in through here."

"Sasha, you don't know what the lay out is in there! If you trip over a box or something, then it's over! Negan will never believe that you snuck in through the basement, to seduce him." Carol said matter-of-factly.

"Then go, Carol! Don't worry about me. But I'm going in." Sasha said and pushed against the basement window. It was locked. She moved towards the next one and found it open! She pushed it inward and found that she could just **BARELY** squeeze herself through it, with some help from Carol.

Carol decided she was too old for that shit! She would wait outside until Sasha returned.

Meanwhile, Sasha landed on a carpeted floor and slowly rose. She flashed her pen light around and saw that she had indeed, almost missed landing on some boxes! Sasha crept over towards the stairs when...

The door to the basement opened and Negan came running down the stairs! Sasha just barely hid behind a bar as Negan came down into the basement, then sat on a barstool. Sasha frowned as the sound of some motor revved up and then...nothing.

She could hear nothing. Not even the sound of Negan breathing. And the motor sound was gone. She slowly rose up just as the barstool seemed to rise from the floor and return to the same height at the other chairs. What the hell?

Sasha slowly moved from behind the bar and around to the that tell tale bar stool. She shined her pen light around the basement and towards the stairs. Negan was not in this basement. And he did not go back upstairs. Where in the hell did he go?

She thought about climbing back out of the window and telling Carol what she had seen. But somehow, she didn't think she would ever get this opportunity again. She took a deep, shaky breath and sat on the barstool Negan had been on, feeling for some kind of switch underneath.

The barstool began to lower into the ground!

Meanwhile, an inattentive guard, had been busy eating a steak sandwich, and had not been paying attention as to who was actually in the chair! He had assumed it was Deanna! So when Sasha arrived in the 'Underground', he jumped up and hit a panic button! Sasha drew her knife in response! What the hell was this?

Negan and Phillip Blake were meeting in a conference room, along with Shane Walsh, who had been cleared for duty. The three men were wearing suits and jumped up when the panic button sounded! Beth hurried in and Shane looked at her.

"What is that?!" he asked tersely. He was still adjusting to being alive again and all of this secrecy. Loud, blaring noises were the last thing he needed right now!

But Beth knew.

"There is an intruder in your sector, Negan! Someone came down after you." she told them. Phillip gave Negan gave a look of utter contempt!

"Figures! Where is Dr. Jenner?" he asked.

"In the Southwest. I'll handle it." Negan said, now getting up and pulling out his gun. He smiled over at Shane.

"You used to be a cop, right? Come and back me up." Negan requested casually as he hurried out of the room! It was probably Spencer. Deanna had been careless and he somehow got wind of what was going on down here.

But no, it was not Spencer...

"Sasha?" Negan asked and put away his gun. She was holding off the guard with a huge knife! Where the fuck had she gotten that? He thought he had confiscated all of Rick's group's weapons?

Shane noted that Negan had put his gun away but didn't recognize the woman. The guard moved back where Negan and Shane were, just as Beth and The Governor appeared.

"Beth?" Sasha asked, staring at her as if she had seen a ghost. Then her eyes took in the Governor and she slipped into a dead faint.

* * *

Sasha could hear her name being called but she didn't know where the voice was coming from, or why it sounded so familiar.

Then she opened her eyes and saw Beth Greene. Sasha sat up quickly but Beth gently pushed her back against a mass of pillows in what looked to be a very nice bedroom.

"Beth?" she asked gently.

"It's me, Sasha." Beth confirmed quietly. Sasha rose up and hugged her for dear life! She had just lost Bob when Beth died! And she had made the stupid mistake of allowing one of the men that worked for that God awful woman, Dawn, to get chatty with her, thus allowing him to escape. Sasha had always felt as if she had contributed to Beth's death with her carelessness.

"Nothing went right when we tried to rescue you." Sasha said softly. "How are you here? Darryl was devastated. You know that, right? Oh God and Maggie! Maggie is pregnant! This would make her life complete right now! You have to..."

Suddenly Sasha stopped jabbering and stared at Beth differently now.

" **HOW** are you alive? What is going on and what is this place?"

Negan opened the door to the room and motioned for Beth to leave. Sasha grabbed her hand!

"No! Don't leave me! Tell me what's going on!" she began to yell, just as Beth gently pulled her hand from Sasha's and left. Sasha could see her go into the arms of the dark haired man that had been in the other room earlier. Who was he?

Negan closed the door.

"I ran the tapes and I see that you broke in through my sister's basement. What were you looking for?"

"You're really going to ask me that now?" Sasha countered, dragging her eyes off of him. He looked...normal, in that suit and tie. Meaning not like the psychopath he was.

Negan pulled up a chair and sat beside her bed.

"No. I'm not because everything is going to be different from now on. It has to be."

"Meaning?" Sasha asked uneasily.

"Meaning I will tell you everything about this place. But if you cannot keep it a secret from the world above, then I cannot let you leave here."

"You're serious?"

"As a heart attack. This 'place' you're in has everything to do with rebuilding our world. And knowing who will fit in."

"And the Governor fits in? How is he alive? How is Beth alive?"

The door opened and Deanna suddenly came in! She stared at Sasha in disbelief, then looked at Negan.

"How did this happen? I just barely got past Spencer to come down here."

"I think you need to explain to Miss Williams what this all is, and what her choices are in the matter. I'm going to go back up and make sure that your buddy Carol, doesn't come barreling into the house, looking for you." Negan said and left the room. Goddamnit! He couldn't believe this had happened!

He walked down a hallway and found Phillip by a convenience machine, sipping coffee and staring at him through his one eye.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Negan asked tersely. His standard apocalypse wear was hanging in a closet nearby.

"I was thinking how I almost turned Sasha and her brother, Tyrese, away from Woodbury. If she hadn't been so pretty, I would've told them to seek shelter elsewhere. I never got a chance to know her properly." Philip said coolly.

"And you won't now. There's nothing to see here 'Guv', okay? Sasha will either go along to get along, or she stays down here for good." Negan said.

Philip finished his coffee, threw the cup in a trash can and walked up to Negan.

"You know, I think I'm going to talk to Jenner about switching sectors. I've never had anyone from above, 'accidentally' find this place. Maybe you would do better down south. I could take over here."

Negan grinned!

"Really? And how the fuck would you explain being alive again without tipping our hand? Don't be a fucking fool. And stay away from Sasha. She was as happy to see you again, as she would a case of herpes."

Negan picked up his clothes and moved down the hallway to change back in to them, leaving Phillip Blake in the frame of mind that a 'change' was more necessary than ever. He was going to speak to Dr. Jenner and Deanna, when the time was right.

Meanwhile, Deanna sat in the chair Negan had vacated and told Sasha everything she knew about the beginnings of Weapon X, to the basic cure, Special X and how it only helped people that had died by means unrelated to the Weapon X virus. Deanna also told Sasha about what the goal of this whole thing was: to see who could survive in a new world, with less people.

"Sasha, if we were to reveal ourselves now and what we were doing, we would be overrun by evil. I really believe that." Deanna said solemnly.

"I suppose I agree with you," Sasha said slowly, "but good people will be very angry to find that they've been deceived like this."

"There has been no deception, Sasha. None. It's not like the world did not really go to hell and back. But there was always a plan in place to fix things. We do not have a cure to keep someone from coming back as those things when they die. And we need something we can give to people when they are bitten. For now, we can only restore people the way we have been, to repopulate the planet."

"Or this country, you mean. This set up you have here is not in Europe, right?"

Deanna patted her hand.

"Get some rest. I'm going to send Beth back in and then you have to make a decision. Either you stay down here for good and Negan and I tell people that you died, or you return above, ready to play your part." Deanna said firmly.

Sasha just nodded and watched as Deanna stood up and walked out of the room. She had already made up her mind. She would go above and keep this secret-for now.


	8. Chapter 8

Carol didn't like this! Sasha had been in Deanna's house for over an hour! Either she had found something or she hadn't! She hunched down and shined a pen light through the basement window, but could see nothing! What the hell was going on? Was Sasha up on the second floor? Had she been caught? Why was it so quiet?

She almost jumped out of her skin when Negan came up behind her, carrying that bat in the darkness!

"Yoo hoo! Carol, right?"

Carol slowly turned off the pen light and turned to face him.

"Yes." was all she said. Good God! She hadn't even heard him sneaking up on her like that!

"Are you lost or something?"

"Am I lost?" Carol asked.

"That's what I asked you. Are you lost, out here in the pitch black night outside of my sister's house?" Negan asked in a deceptively civil drawl.

Carol kept cool.

"I thought I saw someone out here. I came out to investigate."

"You thought you saw someone out here, hey?" Negan asked, then shined a light on the open basement window. "Well hells bells, Carol, you're right! That window is open! Did you see that?"

"I see it. I was just going to knock on the door and let you all know that someone had broken in to your home."

"Is that right? Well I already knew that. And I know 'who' it was. So you can run along now." Negan said, twirling his bat in the darkness.

"Oh. You know who it was?"

"I do."

"And you did what to them?" Carol asked.

"Fucked her. Now run along." Negan told her. Carol tried to keep the horror from coming out of her throat in the form of a disgusted scream! The worst **HAD** happened! Sasha had been caught and been forced to act like she wanted to have sex with this animal! Oh poor Sasha!

Carol could not even come up with a civil goodbye, as she ran to her house. Negan's grin grew even wider, as he began to whistle. He walked around to the steps and hurried up them, before opening the door to Deanna's house softly. Spencer was sound asleep on the living room couch. If there had indeed been an intruder, this asswipe would've slept through a robbery and God knows what else!

Negan then went back down the basement steps and made his way over to the open window. He closed and locked it, before looking over at the telltale barstool. He had decided that he was going to let Abraham and the others back in here, now that Sasha knew the truth.

There was a possibility that she would choose to stay down below. That would be fine with him, for he would just visit her down there. Alone. And maybe...maybe she could give him more of a chance to get to know her away from everyone else.

But if Sasha did choose to stay with her friends, Negan and Deanna had to be ready to decide how to deal with her, in case she did tell anyone at all, about what was going on down below.

* * *

 **NEXT DAY-**

Abraham woke everyone very early in the cabin. Rick sat straight up and barely registered the fact that Abraham was cleaning out the cabinets of anything and everything he could find!

"What are you doing? We're going to need those supplies." Rick said, still trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

"We would if we were staying! This is what we're giving Negan and he damned well will take this expired shit or else!" Abraham barked as he just swept cans of food mindlessly into a duffle bag! Glenn appeared in the front room and gave Rick a questioning look, before watching Abraham clean out the cabinets.

"Okay, I get what you're doing but it's not going to be enough." Glenn warned him, just as Rosita came out and rolled her eyes!

"He doesn't care if it's 'enough', do you, Abraham? This isn't about getting Negan what he's asking for. It's about saving his precious Sasha's honor. Let me ask you something: did I look 'hot' eating that dog too?"

"What?!" Glenn asked, totally lost. Rick sighed and took over the conversation.

"I have children I was forced to leave with that man! So believe me when I tell you I thought of the same damned thing last night! But I don't want to go back and stay with this fuck! I want to go back to **LIVE** -without him or any of his people with him. I was thinking all last night about what our first step should be and I think I came up with a plan." Rick said.

"Which is what?" Abraham asked, dropping the duffle bag.

"Let's get the ball rolling by sending Rosita and Glenn back with that stuff you've gathered," Rick said then looked at Glenn and Rosita, "and you two tell them that Abraham and I were attacked and killed."

"Okay," Glenn said cautiously, "and then what?"

"Negan let's down his guard a little. He hates me because I challenged his leadership role in Alexandria. He hates Abraham because it's clear that he's got a thing for Sasha."

"Okay, Rick, but he did still throw Glenn and myself out! I mean we may not get back in." Rosita warned.

"You'll get back in if you look properly down and out," Rick told them, "but what we need is for someone to unlock that secret way in and out of Alexandria in the sewer."

Abraham's eyes glittered with interest and Glenn moved closer to Rick.

"Aaron showed that to Maggie and me. So Abraham and yourself are going to sneak in that way?" Glenn asked.

"Abraham and I are going to **LIVE** down there. And then we're going to slowly lure each of Negan's people, or anyone loyal to him, down there at night. One by one. Kill them, then take them outside of Alexandria and feed them to the walkers." Rick told them. Abraham grinned and handed over his duffle bag to Rosita, who still looked unsure.

"Okay, we know who the obvious people are that follow Negan. But if we're going to do this, we need to find the quiet ones. The sneaky people that could turn on us on a dime." Rosita cautioned.

"We'll take care of that." Glenn said. "And it's probably best if this plan stays between the four of us for now. In case anything goes wrong, everyone else in our group has plausible deniability."

Rosita stared at Glenn as if he were crazy!

"Plausible deniability? Somehow, Negan doesn't strike me as the type that will believe that no one from our group, didn't know about this! I think we could work faster if we include everyone-with the exception of Eugene and Morgan." Rosita suggested.

"What's wrong with Morgan?" Abraham asked. But Rick nodded.

"I haven't seen him in years. I don't know what is is, but he's changed."

"And Negan made him sheriff." Glenn pointed out.

"Are you all kidding me?" Abraham asked. "I heard about how he fucked up Simon! The only reason Negan made him sheriff is because he's crazier than fuck! He's on our side."

"I can't take that kind of a chance." Rick said. "Rosita's right. For now, we'll leave Morgan and Eugene out of this."

Abraham wasn't about to quibble about any of this. It was a good plan and they needed to get their shit correct so they could get going on this! He looked around the cabin for anything else Glenn and Rosita could turn over to Negan, before staring at them.

"Let's get our asses in gear then, people! Rick, if we're going to be living in a sewer tunnel, then we'll need supplies."

"Yeah," Rick agreed, "and at night, we'll need someone to bring us food, in case we get low."

"It's done." Glenn said and then looked at Rosita.

"Are you ready to look pathetic and desperate enough to get back into Alexandria?" he asked her.

"If it gets that Negan fuck out of there, then yes, I am." Rosita said firmly.

* * *

Sasha slept...well, she didn't really know where she slept, if the truth be told. She knew there was some underground, shadowy government organization that was trying to rebuild the world. Deanna had explained some of it to her and Sasha believed her, to a certain extent. She still didn't quite understand why everyone in Alexandria couldn't know? There were people above, in the real, polluted world of the dead, that would love to help with making this society what it once was. And she didn't know if she could pretend not to know that this was all happening.

The door opened and Sasha sat up, expecting to see Beth. But Beth did not come into the room.

The Governor did. He smiled at her and Sasha's stomach roiled! She could not even pretend she had the facial muscles to return his look.

"Sasha, you remember me, don't you? I take it Deanna told you everything?" Phillip asked before pulling up a chair and sitting down by her bed.

"She did." Sasha said carefully. "Beth told me some things as well. She said Herschel, who you beheaded, is somehow alive. I don't quite get the medical science of that."

"Neither does Beth or anyone else, but he is alive and recovering." Phillip said and reached out to touch her hand. Sasha shrunk from his touch. What the hell kind of nightmare was this? If Rick, Michonne or even Maggie knew this bastard was still in the world of the living, she didn't know what they would do!

"I know that I've given you reason not to trust me, Sasha, but I want you to know that the man you once knew that called himself 'The Governor', is gone now. You can trust me. You can tell me anything. You know, we would've liked to have been able to save Tyrese. I was sorry to hear of his passing."

"Really?" Sasha asked wryly. "Because I didn't get the feeling that you liked either of us too much."

"Like I said, I was a different man then. Dr. Jenner brought me back to life and I went though some therapy. I'm ready to help make this world what it once was." Phillip said coolly. Somehow, Sasha didn't believe him. It was like he was saying that this 'Walker Apocalypse' turned him crazy. Sasha didn't believe that anymore than she believed that Negan could possibly be a different man, when he was down here.

"Well I hope that's true." Sasha said, hoping that her words would put an end to the conversation. But The Governor didn't move.

"Was there something you wanted to ask me?" Sasha asked, hoping there was not.

"Negan is dangerous. I know you probably realize that by now. But he did not go through any 'therapy'. He's the congress woman's brother and she is vouching for him. You should be careful of him. You should all be careful of him. I can't believe I'm even going to say this, but Rick should be careful as well." The Governor said, before standing up from the chair and leaving her room.

She did not have long to ponder his words, before Beth came back into the room. She stared back down the hallway and it was clear to Sasha, that she had seen the Governor leave her room. Beth closed the door.

"What did he want? Are you alright?" Beth asked, sitting down on the end of her bed. Her hair was in a ponytail clip today.

"I'm fine. How are you though? You're down here with him." Sasha noted.

"He's in another sector. Down south. I don't hardly ever see him in person. I only go down that way when I visit my father."

"How is Herschel? Beth, he's going to be a grandfather! He should know!"

Beth looked at her fearfully.

"You can't say anything, Sasha. You can't or else you won't be able to go back above. Deanna, Negan and Dr. Jenner won't allow it."

"Who is this Dr. Jenner?" Sasha asked.

"Apparently he knew Rick and Shane in Atlanta. Glenn too, I think." Beth said.

"Shane? Where have I heard that name before?"

"He was Rick's partner when they worked in law enforcement. There was bad blood between them because of Rick's wife, Lori. Lori could've been saved by Special X if...I can't even say it." Beth said softly.

"It doesn't sound as if Rick would be happy to see him." Sasha noted. Just like he would not be happy to see the Governor.

"Sasha, you haven't said much about what's going on with you?" Beth asked with a small smile.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I heard about Bob. He was nice. I'm sorry you lost him. And Tyrese."

"Yeah, well." was all Sasha said to that. There was nothing else to say. She certainly didn't corner the market on loss these days.

"Yeah, well, what about Abraham? Tell me what he's like?" Beth asked with a smile. But Sasha frowned at her.

"How do you know about him? You weren't with us when we met him."

"There are cameras here. Only the security staff can watch them. They let agents in certain sectors know things. I snuck in and watched when Negan threw Abraham out...along with Rick, Glenn and another woman."

"There are cameras? Watching our misery?"

"No. That is not what they are for! They're there to make sure Negan and Deanna know when there is a threat to a sector. No one is really watching people. It's more just to see if any walkers are breaching a community...stuff like that."

"And yet you watched a whole conversation about Abraham?" Sasha asked. Beth hung her head.

"I know I shouldn't have but I miss Maggie! I miss Maggie and Glenn. I miss Rick and Michonne...Darryl. Shane being down here helps. And Daddy."

"What do you mean when you say the 'southern sector'? Does this underground go all the way back down to Georgia?"

The door opened and Negan walked in, wearing a checkered shirt and jeans. He honestly looked as if he were about to camping or fishing. He began to roll up his shirt sleeves.

"Beth, I need for you to leave Sasha and myself alone."

Beth slowly stood up.

"I was just getting Sasha caught up..."

"Yeah, I'll take care of that," Negan said shortly, "Dr. Jenner is looking for you."

Beth turned from Negan and looked at Sasha.

"I'll be back."

"Maybe you will, and maybe you won't. That depends on Miss Williams here." Negan said ominously. Beth slowly left the room and Negan closed the door behind her, before turning back to Sasha. Sasha started to get up from the bed, but Negan sat on the edge and essentially blocked her in.

"I know my sister told you that if you cannot keep what we're trying to do a secret, then you cannot enjoy the undead world up there. Which is it going to be? Tell or not tell?"

"I don't see why no one can know! I mean we could all help..."

"No, that's not what I asked you. Now it sounds like you want to stay down here. I'd actually prefer that myself." he asked with a sinister smile.

"Fine. I'll go back and not say anything." Sasha said. "Now can you get up?"

Negan did not move and his eyes probed hers.

"What? I said I wouldn't tell! Now let me out of this bed!"

"Okay, Sasha. I'm going to choose to believe that you are a woman of your word. And to make sure that you continue to stay a woman of your 'word', two things are going to happen:one, if you tell anyone squat about any of this, I will kill one person from your group, each day. Are we clear?"

"Wow. That's pretty lousy!"

"Yeah, it is. And here's another caveat: your buddy Carol and you were snooping around outside of my sister's house. We can talk later about what that was all about. But I had to tell her **SOMETHING** when you didn't come back out in a timely manner."

Sasha eyed him suspiciously. She had forgotten about Carol.

"What did you tell her? Did you do something to her?"

"Jesus, Sasha! Come on! It was the middle of the night."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm saying I don't do shit to people in the middle of the night! Anyway, she wanted to know where you were and I had to tell her that you were with me. Sexually." Negan grinned. Sasha rolled her eyes!

"There's no way she believed that! I'll explain..."

"You'll explain what? That you got locked in a closet somewhere? No, you're going to let that explanation stand. Now I'm actually here because there is a potential problem at the gate: Glenn and Rosita are back-alone, begging to be let back in."

Sasha gaped at Negan!

"Just Glenn and Rosita?"

"Yeah, Rick and your boyfriend are nowhere in sight. You're returning to the world above and we're all going to find out what's going on. And just remember, I will kill one person from your group if you say anything **AND**... come on Sasha, say it out loud." Negan said, grinning again.

"Carol has to believe we slept together...God..."

"That's the spirit, Sasha Sunshine. Now let's get above and find out what's going on." Negan said, nodding. He thought his talk with Sasha had went well. And he was eager to find out just where the fuck Abraham and Rick were.


	9. Chapter 9

Glenn did not think it was necessary for Rosita to smear mud on her face, but it did make her look more pitiful, like she had truly suffered. Glenn wasn't about to go that far himself, but he prayed like hell they could sell this story to Negan. Rick and Abraham were waiting to be let into the tunnels tonight, so they would lure that Simon guy down there to be killed.

Meanwhile, Negan had changed into his standard clothing and he stood beside Sasha as the barstools lowered to the underground. Sasha still couldn't believe that any of this existed and she could tell no one. Not even Abraham.

She tried not to think about what it meant, that only Glenn and Rosita were back. Maybe this was part of a plan on Rick and Abraham's part? Or maybe the four of them had split up during scavenging and only Glenn and Rosita found things?

She could feel Negan staring at her, as he hopped up on the barstool, then patted the seat of the one she was supposed to sit on.

"Hop on. Let's get this show on the road."

Sasha did as she was told without comment. She was just too nervous about what she was going to hear. She was also nervous about how she was going to keep this place down below a secret. But she had to. She had little choice.

Sasha jumped a bit when the barstool began to go into the air. Negan noticed and reached over to touch her hand, startling her some more.

"Mind if I ask you a question?" Negan asked.

"I could hardly stop you." was Sasha's reply.

"Do you ever think about what happens after all this is over?"

"Are you saying it will be over?"

"That's what we're preparing for down here. And we know it won't be easy for people to get back into the swing of things. Some people **WON'T** be able to adjust. Like your Abraham. He seems crazier than fuck."

"Really? So that was the reason you threw him out of here? Because he was 'crazier than fuck'?" Sasha asked sarcastically.

Negan didn't answer that directly.

"I just think he could be a threat to society when things get back to normal."

"Things will never be normal again. Not after we've been through something like this."

"Look, Sasha, this whole thing is Deanna's operation. But at least she's trying. Seriously, we can't continue to live in a goddamned world, where the dead are walking around above ground."

Sasha was about to respond but decided against it. Because she knew Negan would want to go into some convoluted explanation, as to why no one could know that there was a government underground, trying to get the world back in working order.

The barstools stopped in the basement and Sasha could see the dust and boxes, a little better with sunlight streaming into the windows. Negan got up off of his chair and dusted himself off.

"Are you ready?"

Sasha folded her arms.

"How is this supposed to work? I mean you told Carol that lie, so what? We're supposed to be seen coming out of the same house?"

"If you can go out the backdoor and back to your house, unseen, then do it. And if you're 'embarrassed' by the idea of anyone thinking that we were fucking, then hope that Carol can keep her mouth shut about it." Negan said in a tone that Sasha thought sounded suspiciously like hurt feelings. She shoved that out of her mind. She needed to get home, get changed and find out what was going on with the others. She told herself that it wasn't necessarily bad news that only Glenn and Rosita had returned. And she couldn't worry about what Negan thought or felt.

* * *

Negan just stared at Glenn and Rosita, as they stood in front of him by the gate. They had been allowed in until Negan could hear them out. His bat was slung over his shoulder as he listened to this bullshit tale...

"You're telling me that Rick was 'killed', when one of those things came up from under the ground? You said there was mud?"

"Yes, there was a patch of mud or what looked like a patch of mud..." Glenn began, but Negan interrupted.

"I understand what a goddamned mud puddle looks like. I also know they're not very deep. Why the fuck didn't Rick see the thing lying in it?"

Rosita took over since Glenn was failing to lie properly.

"It wasn't a puddle. It was soft ground. I mean none of us expected anyone to be buried in the woods like that. The thing's hand shot up and tripped Rick, before coming out of the ground. He was on him before we could do anything."

Michonne and Morgan glanced at one another. They weren't buying this story and yet without saying a word to one another, they both knew that they had to **LOOK** as if they believed it! Michonne began to cry and Simon looked over at her, before focusing on Glenn and Rosita again.

"I still can't picture this shit," Negan said, "I mean the fucking thing comes out of the ground, trips Rick...he couldn't pull out of it's grip? How come none of you could shoot it or something?"

"You took our weapons." Glenn reminded him.

"It bit Rick on the ankle." Rosita lied. Now Negan nodded, as if he got it.

"Okay," he said, now glancing at Sasha, "what about Abraham?"

"I don't know," Rosita said, now looking at Sasha, "because he insisted on leaving us and coming back here. To be with **YOU**."

Sasha sensed that some kind of...something, would come out of Rosita's mouth. Something that sounded like blame. She glanced over at Michonne and Morgan. Morgan looked stressed and Michonne looked devastated. Sasha wanted to feel that way, but something in her said that there was no way neither Rick or Abraham, would lose their lives in such a manner. And Glenn didn't even sound like he could remember what happened!

"Go on, Rosita. Tell us what happened to Abraham. Because of me." Sasha said shortly.

"I will. He left in the middle of the night. He was upset that Negan here would get his hands on you. Sexually." Rosita said boldly. Carol eyed Sasha, then slowly eased away from the crowd. No one was guarding Darryl, so she slipped into the house he was being kept in and slipped down into the basement.

He was behind bars, trying to peer out of the windows, but they were too high. He turned quickly when he saw Carol!

"What the hell is going on out there?" he hissed.

"Glenn and Rosita are back! They're claiming that Rick and Abraham are dead. I'm not buying it, but I sense that if **WE** don't look like we believe it, Negan won't." Carol said and looked around for anything, to get Darryl out of the cage.

"Forget trying to get me out. If this is a plan of Rick and Abraham's, then everything has go like normal." Darryl told her. Carol took a deep, annoyed breath.

"What?" Darryl asked.

"It's Sasha. She broke into Deanna's house last night."

"What? Did she get caught?"

"I think so. I mean she didn't come out. But Negan did!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he suddenly appeared and found me waiting by the basement window Sasha had crawled in through. He seemed to think that Sasha had snuck in to have sex with him."

"Did she?"

"He says they did. Sasha didn't go home at all! Suddenly it's morning and she's now appeared. Yeah, I think she got caught in the house and had to cover for what she was doing."

"Damn!" Darryl hissed. "Abraham is going to be pissed!"

"If he's really alive." Carol replied.

Meanwhile, Maggie, Carl and Enid had come out of their houses. Maggie threw herself into Glenn's arms, while Michonne put an arm around Carl and walked off with him. Enid stood by Tara. Deanna came out of her house and walked over to stand next to Negan.

"What's going on here? Glenn? Rosita? Did you do as my brother asked?"

Glenn let go of Maggie and walked over to hand Simon a backpack. Simon opened it and dumped the contents on to a picnic table. Sasha moved closer to take a look at the contents.

"This shit looks like expired food." Simon said with little interest. Negan raised a brow.

"You found a store nearby? Because I can't imagine a store around here that I've missed." he said knowingly.

"We found a cabin." Rosita answered. "Look, we brought you what we could. You can't send us back out there."

"Why can't I?" Negan countered.

Deanna sighed.

"Alright. You can return. Maggie, you should have your husband by your side. Rosita, I want you to continue the self defense classes. Negan, can we talk? Privately?" Deanna asked and motioned her head for the two of them to move away from everyone else. Sasha watched them for a bit, knowing that they were discussing her. When she turned away from them, she found Rosita in her face!

"Everyone is watching us," Rosita said with clenched teeth, "so we don't have long. Rick and Abraham are alive but they need our help getting into the tunnels. The plan is to lure Negan and his men down there and kill them one by one. Simon is first."

Sasha stared at Rosita, taking in the information she had just been given, and wondering if this was a good plan, considering what she now knew? Rosita saw the look on her face but couldn't read Sasha. Was she confused about what she had just told her?

Sasha looked away from Rosita and saw Glenn and Maggie speaking with Michonne. She then looked over where Deanna and Negan were. They were so deep in conversation, that they didn't seem to notice anyone else.

"What's wrong with you? Did you hear what I just said?" Rosita whispered. But Sasha was paralyzed with indecision. There were cameras in Alexandria. She didn't know if they were in the tunnels though. But if they were, then this whole plan was over before it began.

Sasha decided that she would just have to take a chance and tell someone about what was really going on down below.

"Oh my God! Really, Sasha? You're telling me in you're in shock or something? How long did you know Abraham, really? I swear..."

Sasha suddenly punched Rosita and she fell to the ground! Negan and Morgan came running over and Morgan helped a livid Rosita up!

" **WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!** " Rosita screamed. Negan kept a hold on Sasha, who seemed calm.

"I'm tired of listening to your crap. I agreed to stay here to save your life. You come back here without Abraham and some story about how it was my fault that he died. I want to see his body." Sasha said firmly. Rosita's face stayed angry but inwardly, she was surprised. What the hell was Sasha up to? There was no body to find! She had just told her that!

Glenn made his way over with Maggie.

"We're assuming he died, Sasha," Glenn said carefully, "I mean he didn't make it back here."

"And he would have." Maggie stressed.

Negan decided to cut this short.

"I want to see **RICK'S** body. And we're going to search for Abraham's body. If we don't find anything out there, then Glenn and Miss Rosita are gone for good-for lying about this shit. Let's get going." Negan told some of his men.

"I'm going too." Sasha said stoutly. Negan turned away from one of his men and nodded.

"As you should. I don't want there to be an iota of doubt that that red headed fuck is dead. If he's not, however, it's going to be bad for him."

"Maybe he's out scavenging! Really, Negan, you can't blame Abraham for splitting up to look for things on his own." Sasha argued.

"IF, that's what happened." Negan said. He wasn't convinced of that at all. Honestly, he could see Glenn and Rosita being the ones not coming back, but not Rick or Abraham. He looked from Sasha to Rosita.

"You. You're coming with us. You're going to show us this 'cabin' and you're going to show us the fucking mud puddle." Negan told her. Glenn stepped forward.

"There's a lot of mud puddles out there." Glenn said.

"I doubt that since it hasn't rained in a week. So I'm curious as **FUCK** , as to where this sudden mud puddle came from, that Rick's ass didn't see and got killed by. I mean this had better be some quicksand deep shit!" Negan said, before he turned away from Glenn and nodded to his men. They took that as a sign to get some equipment together so they could go 'scavenging' themselves-for bodies.

* * *

Sasha hurried back to her house to get supplies and was not very surprised when Michonne and Maggie followed, full of questions!

"Sasha! What were you thinking? Rosita said she told you what the plan was! If Negan finds out that Rick and Abraham are alive..."

"Then Abraham and Rick can kill Negan and his men. I can help. Rosita can help. He is only taking Heath and Dwight with him. When we don't come back after a day, and we won't, you all take care of Simon. If all of them are gone, then everyone else will begin doing what we say again! Don't you see the opportunity here?" Sasha asked, as she turned away to put some things in a duffle bag.

Michonne did. So did Maggie but...

"I see your point but this is Rick's plan. I don't think we should go against it." Michonne warned.

"I agree with Michonne. Sasha, Rick and Abraham are outside the gates someplace, waiting for us to let them in through the tunnels! Really it will be Rosita and yourself against Negan, Heath and Dwight. I just don't like it." Maggie said.

"Let Abraham and Rick in. Lure Simon down there. When Rosita and I come back with no proof that anyone died, by then, it will be all of us against them." Sasha explained.

"Except for Rosita." Michonne said.

"What do you mean?" Sasha asked.

"You heard Negan! When he finds nothing then he's not going to let Rosita come back. He could kill her out there." Michonne reminded her.

"I'm not going to let that happen, okay?" Sasha told them. "Let's just do this."

"Why?!" Maggie asked in exasperation. "Glenn's life is on the line here too! Why did you say anything, Sasha? Why couldn't you just look sad like the rest of us? What's going on?"

Sasha knew that Deanna and Negan's group down below were watching and listening to them. For all she knew, someone could come out of Deanna's house right now and let Negan know what was going on. All she could do, at this point, is not let on about what she knew.

"Just trust me." was all Sasha could say. Michonne took a deep breath and nodded to Maggie. Maggie gave Sasha a look she could not read, before turning to leave. Once the door closed, Sasha headed into the kitchen to get bottled waters. It was just as she closed the refrigerator that she heard a noise.

Thinking Michonne or Maggie had returned, she walked out into the front room and got the surprise of her life: the Governor was sitting on one of her couches, reading an old magazine!

"Oh my God!" Sasha hissed. "If Michonne or Maggie had seen you..."

"Yeah, that would have been tragic. For them." the Governor said and stood up, his eye roaming over her.

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you down below?"

"Sasha, you should be glad that I was down below...watching the cameras when no one else was." he said pointedly.

"Then you know?"

"Yes and I erased the footage." he said.

"Why? Why would you do that?" she asked defiantly.

"Because Negan is bad for this place and the new society that Deanna wants to build. And it looks like you need help getting rid of him." the Governor said pointedly.

"If you heard the plan, then you know we have it handled." Sasha told him.

"Negan has an army. An army of men and women at various locations. And he's does the same thing to them, that he's done to most of the people here. He just doesn't quite know how to handle Rick. I know the feeling."

Sasha stared at the Governor, stunned!

"An army? You're kidding?"

"I wouldn't have come up here if what I was saying wasn't very real." the Governor said solemnly.

"For what purpose? To do what?"

"To make sure that everyone eventually falls in line, Sasha. His people are going around and looking for communities to terrorize-like he's doing here."

Sasha said nothing to that. Oddly, she had actually believed that Negan's essential purpose here was to make sure that society could function again. Now the Governor here was telling her something else.

"Does Deanna know?"

"I can't tell." the Governor said, now looking around the house. "I'd have to assume she does. She seems alright with anything else her brother does."

"Okay...well what should I do? What are you telling me? Should I continue the plan I have?"

The Governor reached out and touched Sasha's shoulders.

"If you kill Negan, you'll have to kill Deanna as well. Are you prepared to do that?"

"Can you run everything underground without her?" Sasha asked in return, just as the door opened and Negan walked in! He slammed the door in response and pointed his bat at the Governor!

"Well fuck me! I know I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing here!"

"Why don't you calm down." the Governor suggested coolly.

"What did you fucking say to me?! What are you doing above ground in **MY** sector? How the fuck did you get into this house without being seen?" Negan demanded to know.

Sasha could feel this whole thing getting out of control!

"Negan, he just came up here to...uh...to..."

"Oh please don't tell me you're going to cover for this fuck!" Negan snapped looking from her to him again.

"I'm here because I had to stop Beth." the Governor lied. "She was in here waiting to see her sister."

Negan calmed down some. Yes, he had seen Maggie and Michonne come over here...

"Where is she now?" Negan asked.

"Back underground. I took her back behind the houses. No one saw us." the Governor said. "I should get going."

"You damned well should! And you should have let me handle Beth!" Negan growled.

Meanwhile, Negan and Sasha were taking too long. Too long for Carol's comfort. She walked over to Sasha's house, walked up the steps and peered through a window...

Carol squeaked and put a hand over her mouth! There was another man in there talking to Negan and Sasha! And he looked like...like...

The Governor.

Carol shook her head and began to back back, but she bumped against a wind chime, catching Negan, Sasha and the Governor's attention. Negan opened the door quickly, grabbed Carol and dragged her into the house!

The only person that noticed Carol's 'forced' invitation into Sasha's home, was Ron Peterson. And since he hated Rick and his group, he grinned and headed home to his room-to smoke a bit of skunk weed.


	10. Chapter 10

"Go and get Deanna," Negan ordered Sasha in a quiet voice, "and tell her to bring a sedative."

"Sasha! What is this?!" Carol demanded to know. The Governor had a tight hold around Carol from behind!

Sasha was too appalled to move! She couldn't believe this was happening!

"Sasha!" Negan barked. "Go and get Deanna- **NOW**!"

"Sasha," the Governor said, "just casually find Deanna and let her know that her brother is having a problem. She'll know to bring a sedative... **AAAAHHHH!** "

Carol bit the Governor's hand and ran upstairs! He chased after her but was stopped when she slammed and locked a door on him! She then ran to a window and tried to raise it, but it was stuck! Carol looked around wildly before spotting a paperweight. She desperately pulled a pillowcase cover off of a pillow, wrapped the paperweight around it and her hand, then smashed the glass-just as the Governor broke in the door and tackled her to the floor! Negan hurried in after and saw more than a few people staring up where they had heard glass breaking!

"Nothing to fucking see up here!" Negan called down before turning to the Governor and Carol, who were on the floor.

"You're going 'night' 'night' in just a few minutes." Negan smiled. Carol was horrified! Absolutely and utterly horrified! How was the Governor alive? How? And Sasha had known the whole time? Was she in on this? She had to be. Sasha had went tearing out of here after Negan ordered her to, fast enough!

Meanwhile, Sasha whizzed past the truck she was supposed to leave in with Rosita, Dwight and Heath! The three of them looked at one another and Rosita got out of the truck! She hurried after Sasha, while Heath, who would be driving, looked back over by Sasha's house.

"What do you think is going on?" he asked Dwight.

"I don't know." Dwight said, not quite knowing how to gauge the situation. Maybe Negan was hurt? Maybe...hopefully...

Morgan noted the hurry Sasha seemed to be in and blocked her, just as she was a few feet from Deanna's porch.

"Morgan, you need to get out of my way!" Sasha said forcefully.

"And you need to tell us what's going on?" Morgan said much more quietly. "If there is something we can use to our advantage..."

"There isn't." Sasha said calmly. She just barely knew Morgan and he was not someone she was going to share anything with.

Rosita caught up with her on the porch!

"Sasha, what the hell is going on? Why are you looking for Deanna?" she asked.

"Negan wants Deanna and if I say anything else, Abraham and Rick could be in danger." Sasha said. Morgan moved aside and Sasha hurried up the steps, opened Deanna's door and slammed it behind her!

"Did you see that?!" Rosita exploded. "Something **IS** going on here! Something that we need to know that Sasha isn't talking about!"

"Let's find Michonne and Maggie. They were talking to Sasha earlier." Morgan suggested, then looked around.

"What?" Rosita asked impatiently.

"Carol should be in on this as well. You go find Michonne, Magge and Glenn. I'll go to Carol's house and ask her to join us." Morgan said.

Just then, Deanna hurried out of her house, followed by Sasha! They ran back to Sasha's house and the front door wa slammed. A few people glanced over at the house, then resumed whatever they were doing. Rosita stared at the house. Was she crazy for thinking that it suddenly seemed as if Sasha was in cahoots with Negan in some way?

" **GET OFF OF ME!** " Carol screamed, while the Governor held her down. Deanna administered a sedative and Sasha looked away as Carol's eyed focused on her before closing.

"Jesus H! Get her the fuck down below 'Guv'!" Negan snapped.

"Negan," Deanna said coolly, "we can't take her over to my house in the middle of the day. Especially unconscious. You need to get out of here with Sasha until we can find a time to do this."

Negan looked at Sasha.

"You need to go below. With Carol."

"What?!" Sasha exclaimed. "No! I'm going with you to find out for sure if Abraham and Rick are dead!"

"Okay." Deanna said. "Phillip, I am going to give you the drugs you need to keep Carol out of it. Then when night falls, I will provide some distraction so that you can get her down below. By the way...how did you get up here without being seen?"

"The truth?" the Governor asked. "No one knows who belongs around here, Deanna. I came over in broad daylight and no one said a thing. Half of Rick's group wouldn't know me anyway."

"Oh cut the shit! There's still enough people around that would shit their pants if they saw you!" Negan snapped.

There was a knock on the door! The Governor dragged Carol into a back hallway while Negan answered the door.

It was Dwight.

"Is everything alright in here? We should really get going." he said.

"I know we should fuckwad! We'll be out when we're out!" Negan said and slammed the door on him. Dwight just stood there, staring at the slammed door. He then turned and hurried down the stairs and moved past Heath.

"What's going on? What did he say?" Heath asked. But Dwight continued walking until he reached the house that Darryl was being kept in. He hurried down the stairs and approached his cell with a key and unlocked it.

"What are you doing?" Darryl asked in a gravely tone.

"There's a shitstorm brewing around here. And it won't help you to be in here." Dwight said. He threw the key into the corner and walked off. Meanwhile Darryl slipped out of his cell and followed after Dwight. What the hell was going on?

That was what Dwight wanted to know. And he suspected that it had to do with that woman named Carol. He had been the only one to see her go in-and not come back out. And if she was dead, things were going to turn apeshit around here. He could not shake the feeling that Abraham Ford and Rick Grimes were setting some kind of trap for them. And if that was the case, he and Sherry were going with the other team.

Simon saw Dwight and Darryl come out of the house and he hurried over to them!

"I know I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing here!" Simon snapped and tried to grab Darryl! But Dwight was not done.

" **NEGAN KILLED CAROL! THEY'RE HIDING HER BODY IN SASHA'S HOUSE!** " Dwight screamed.

Then, the trouble really began.

* * *

Morgan shot Simon and Heath in the head after hearing about Carol.

Dwight and Sherry stole a car and crashed through the gate! The noise and opportunity brought in walkers.

Glenn and Darryl broke into Sasha's house and grabbed Negan! He was dragged outside, while Denise and Tara hurried over to Carol!

"She's been drugged!" Denise exclaimed, not understanding how anyone could have thought she was dead!

Michonne ran towards Sasha's house, then stopped short.

A man with an eyepatch was running between the houses! She knew instinctively that he was someone that did not live here but...he seemed oddly familiar. Michonne began to chase after him! He ran through a backdoor at Deanna's house, then slammed and locked the door!

" **HEY!** " Michonne screamed, just as Jessie hurried around to meet her.

"What's going on?"

"What's going on?!" Michonne repeated incredulously, the mysterious man forgotten for the moment. "Carol is dead! Negan killed her and we're about to kill him! I just chased some guy into Deanna's house that I'm pretty sure, doesn't live here!"

"You're scaring my sons, Michonne. All of you are! Now Dwight and Sherry knocked down the gate! We have to do something to fend off those things!" Jessie shrieked, just as one came around the corner! Michonne took out her katana and beheaded it, while Jessie screamed and ran off!

Rosita ran through the tunnels and opened the door that lead outside of Alexandria, to Abraham and Rick!

"What the hell happened?!" Rick yelled. "I saw two of Negan's people crash through the gate? Where are Carl and Judith? Is Michonne okay?"

"I don't know, Rick! Negan killed Carol and Morgan killed two of his men! Everyone is running wild in there!"

"Where's Sasha?" Abraham asked, looking panicked.

"I don't know. But I think she tried to cover up Carol's murder. I'm sorry, but some strange shit happened right before we all found out that Carol was killed!"

"I don't want to hear any shit from you about Sasha!" Abraham snapped. "Where's Negan?"

Eugene came running towards them, crying! Three walkers were on his tail as well. Rick shot two of them and Abraham stabbed one in the head!

"Oh thank God!" Eugene sniveled. "It's holy hell out there and...I thought you two were dead?"

"Shut up, Eugene!" Rosita snapped. "And try and grow a pair. You'll need them so we can get out of this alive."

"Is Negan locked up?" Abraham asked.

"Yeah, where Darryl was And it turns out Carol is okay." Eugene told them.

"What?" Rick, Abraham and Rosita asked in unison.

"Yes. She is not one of the undead. Apparently she was drugged by either Deanna or Negan."

"Or Sasha!" Rosita exclaimed.

"What the fuck are you talking about, girl?!" Abraham snapped. "Say what you mean or else..."

"Or else you'll what? Huh?" Rosita sneered. "I'll tell you what I mean! Sasha went against our plan then holed up in her house with Negan! That's what I mean! Something is going on between them, Abraham!"

Rick turned and ran out of the tunnel, followed by Abraham, who decided to just ignore Rosita. Rosita was about to follow when Eugene stopped her.

"What plan? You all had a plan and didn't tell me about it? Maybe none of this would've happened if you had clued me in." Eugene sniffed.

Rosita didn't have time to come up with an insulting answer. She turned and ran after Rick and Abraham. Eugene stood stock still, as he tried to piece together what was happening. He only decided to run as well, when he heard the distinct sounds of walkers coming in from the other end of the tunnel.

* * *

Negan was thrown into one of the basement cells! Darryl kicked the door shut and pointed at him!

"Carol told me what you did to Sasha, you fuck!"

"Sasha and I have chemistry." Negan said coolly. "I'm locked up in a cell, after trying to feed you ungrateful fucks, all because Sasha and I have something together?"

"What's going on?" Glenn asked, coming in to the area.

"Carol told me that Negan raped Sasha! Jesus, when Abraham finds out..."

"You raped Sasha?" Glenn asked, appalled.

"I did not ra..."

"Shut up!" Glenn yelled. "Of course you did! You look like you did!"

"What the fuck does that mean?! 'I look like I did'? Jesus H! Let me the **HELL** out of here or you'll be sorrier then living shit!" Negan yelled. Did Sasha tell Carol that? Damn!

Maggie hurried into the cell area!

"Carol is just drugged, for some reason! She's not dead!"

"Thank God for you." Darryl said quietly.

"Whatever. Now let me the fuck out of here!" Negan yelled.

Glenn grinned!

"You can come out, Negan. You can come out and then leave Alexandria. And the only way you can come back is if you 'prove' your worth."

"Show us that you're not a deadbeat and bring us stuff we can use." Maggie quietly jeered. "And then maybe we'll let you back in here."

Rick hurried down into the cell area, caught sight of Negan and grinned! He couldn't have planned a better outcome! Morgan took care of two of the henchmen, the other two took off-probably because they hated Negan's guts anyway...and the other people in this community would fall back in line.

Things were going back to the way they used to be.

"Let's get the walkers out of here and then get that gate repaired." Rick said and turned to hurry out. Glenn and Maggie followed after Rick as well. Darryl didn't seem to be in any hurry and he grinned at Negan, before he began to turn away.

But not before Negan had some choice words for him.

"Let me out of here or I will see to it that you all die. I guarantee it. Just ask Sasha."

Darryl turned back to stare at him. There was something about the way he said that, that made him believe him. And what did Sasha have to do with whether Negan could kill them or not?

Darryl said nothing and left, slamming the cell room door behind him loudly. Negan smiled. There were fail safes that had been put into place, in case the underground ever seemed like it was in danger of being over run. And he had no doubt, they were being put into place right now, for just this occasion.

Meanwhile, Abraham found Sasha in her house talking to Deanna. The sight of them confused Abraham, but he could not think as to why. Sasha ran into his arms and he picked her up and swung her around twice, before Deanna decided it was time to make a discreet exit.

But Abraham set Sasha down and walked over to the door to block it!

"Abraham, what are you doing?" Deanna asked calmly.

"What needs doin'." Abraham said calmly, pulling out his gun.

"Abraham, what are you doing?!" Sasha asked, shocked. But he ignored her and kept his eyes on Deanna.

"You have a reason for not telling us that you had a brother? Or that you didn't run this place? You let that fucker throw us out? Speak, woman! Speak before I blow you away!"

Deanna looked at Sasha.

"Sasha. Back him off."

"What did you say?!" Abraham snapped. "She agrees with me! We all agree that maybe your leadership isn't needed around here! Now **YOU** can get the fuck out of here and find us some shit that we can use! And don't come back until you've brought something!"

"This is ridiculous!" Deanna snapped and turned to walk towards the back door of the house! Abraham pointed his gun at her ass and fired! Sasha's eyes grew huge, just as Michonne and Father Gabriel hurried in!

" **AAAAHHHHH!** " Deanna cried out. Father Gabriel picked her up off of the floor.

"I'll take her to the infirmary." he said quietly.

"The fuck you will, Father! You take her to the jails and tell Denise to help her from there!" Abraham ordered. Michonne folded her arms.

"I'm going with him. I saw some strange man that doesn't live here, run into her house. Spencer is claiming no one else lives there but I'm not buying it." Michonne told them. She then looked at Sasha.

"What do you know about this?" she asked her quietly.

"Whoa! What the fuck are you asking, Michonne? Excuse my language!"

Sasha spoke.

"We'll talk later." she said and Michonne nodded at her before leaving. Abraham watched Michonne leave and then looked at Sasha, remembering what Rosita had said. Was there something to that?

"What's going on?" Abraham asked in a no nonsense tone.

"I just have a lot to tell you, that's all. And it's kind of weird. And because it's 'weird', I think everyone thinks I've been acting as if I was with Deanna and Negan. Let's get the walkers out of here and then we'll talk, okay?" Sasha suggested and began to walk out of the door.

But Abraham grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"I'm going to hold you to that." he said as he pulled her to him and parted her lips with his hungry mouth. He moaned deep within his throat at just the taste of her and it was Sasha that had to reluctantly break off the kiss.

"Later." she whispered and together they left the house to kill the walkers that had breached the safe zone. Sasha didn't know what she was going to tell her friends. She could say something now about the underground, couldn't she?


	11. Chapter 11

Abraham, along with some of the construction team, helped get the gate back up and welded firmly on to its foundation, so that it would indeed take another speeding vehicle to knock it down again.

Killing the relatively few walkers that managed to get in was an easy job-for Rick's people. The long time Alexandrians weren't as good at it, with two of them losing their lives, while the others just hid in their houses and let the others take care of getting them out of the community.

After the bodies were disposed of or buried, Rick called a meeting in the church. And it was not good. For Sasha, that is...

"Leave her the fuck alone!" Abraham snarled from a pew. Sasha was standing up front with Rick and Father Gabriel and Abraham didn't like some people's tones...

"All I'm saying," Rosita said tiredly, "is that Sasha's behavior was suspicious! No one else thought that?"

Michonne spoke.

"Maggie and I thought it was off, but when we talked to her, she had a plan. The two of you were going to kill Negan, Heath and Dwight while they were searching for Rick and Abraham."

"Michonne, that plan wouldn't have been necessary if Sasha had just started crying or looking sad..." Rosita began but Sasha had had enough of being talked about as if she wasn't there!

"Alright, I get that everyone thinks I've been acting a bit 'off'. I'm going to tell you why." she said. Everyone stared at her curiously and Sasha took a deep breath. They were being watched from below, so she didn't know what kind of trouble she'd be in if she told what she saw. She just knew that Negan and Deanna were locked up, so there was nothing they could do to stop her.

"Last night, I broke into Deanna's house through a basement window. Carol was with me and she stayed outside. I found something. Something that you all won't believe."

"What?" Rick asked.

"There was a point where I was in the basement and Negan suddenly came down the stairs. I hid behind a bar that was down there. I heard him sit on one of the barstools and then I heard nothing." Sasha said.

"What the hell does that mean?" Darryl asked.

"I didn't know. At least not at that point. I came from behind the bar and Negan suddenly was not there." Sasha said.

"So he went back upstairs?" Glenn asked.

"No! That I would've heard. So I sat on the barstool he was on and kind of tried to piece together what could have happened. For all I knew he knew I was down there and was hiding in the darkness someplace."

"But he wasn't?" Michonne asked.

"No. He wasn't. The barstool 'lowered', while I was on it and I ended up someplace else. Someplace beneath Alexandria."

Abraham now raised a bushy eyebrow. What the fuck was she talking about? He was now concerned that somehow, Sasha had been hit over the head or something! Maybe she should get looked at by Denise?

"What do you mean someplace below?" Father Gabriel asked.

"I mean I ended up in some sort of...I don't know how to quite describe it. It was like a working, government facility. One that is run by Deanna, Negan...a Dr. Jenner and..."

"Dr. Jenner?" Rick interrupted. "Edwin Jenner?"

"Yes. He said he knew you from Atlanta." Sasha said. Rick backed away from Sasha a bit. Carl, who had been quiet, didn't like how his father was looking, or how **HE** himself was feeling! Sasha was not with them when they were in Atlanta! How would she know Dr. Jenner?

Others could see that Rick was affected by the little Sasha had said, and looked to her to continue talking.

"This whole government thing was in place from the beginning. Deanna claimed it was supposed to be for 'dignitaries' and other higher ups, that could keep society going, in case of some kind of disaster. But there are no dignitaries down there. Just people that we once knew." Sasha said, now looking at Maggie.

"What? Who have you seen?" Maggie asked, tearing up. Rosita interrupted and stood up!

"Are you listening to this bullshit?! She's making this up just to cover for the fact that she slept with Negan! That's what's going on here!"

"It was rape!" Darryl snapped. "You should know what you're talking about before you run your mouth, Rosita!"

"What the fuck?!" Abraham jumped up. He stared at Sasha.

"Is that true? Did Negan put his hands on you?"

But Michonne now interrupted.

"Sasha, who else is down there? And I'm sorry to interrupt, but I saw someone go into Deanna's house. I chased him in there and he looked a lot like..."

"The Governor." Sasha said shaking her head. "He's there too."

"Goddamnit!" Michonne swore. Now Rosita was beginning to feel uneasy. Rick and Michonne clearly believed this story! What if it was true?

"Sasha," Maggie asked again, "who else is down there?"

"Beth. And your father, though he was recovering...and someone else." Sasha said and looked at Rick.

"Who?!" he demanded to know.

"That guy that was your partner. I think his name is..."

"Shane is down there!" Carl yelled.

"Look," Sasha said, trying to calm people down, "this thing that turns the dead into hungry killers, was called Weapon X. It was a military thing that went wrong. Right now, this underground government can only bring people back to life, that did not die by being bitten by a walker. They don't know yet how to keep just anyone who dies, from turning into one. But they're working on it."

"I want to see this place, Sasha! I want to see it now!" Rick snapped. If what Sasha was saying was true, then that meant Pete Anderson and Reg were alive as well.

"Rick, they're watching us. And what's going on is not just here. The Governor runs things down south. Shane is probably going to be running some region. Deanna and Negan claim that the point of this is to see who can fit back into society when it's up and running-and who can't." Sasha said.

"Can we get back to this rape shit?!" Abraham snapped. "Not that rape is 'shit', but what the fuck was Darryl talking about just now, Sasha?"

"I was given a choice once I saw everything. I could stay down below and Deanna and Negan would fake my death, or I could come up here and play dumb. That meant that Carol had to know why I was taking so long in the house. Negan told Carol that the two of us had sex. Carol assumed it was rape, I guess."

"But **NOTHING** happened, right?" Abraham asked.

"No," she said smiling at him, "nothing happened."

"I think we should see what Negan and Deanna have to say." Rosita said in a challenging tone. Sasha shrugged.

"I don't expect them to back me up. I don't even know if the barstool will work once WE try it."

"Which would be convenient." Rosita said coolly.

Rick spoke.

"I know it sounds fantastic, but I believe Sasha."

"So do I." Michonne said. "Considering I chased the Governor into Deanna's house. And he would've needed to go there to get back to that underground. I say we question Deanna and Negan anyway."

Rick nodded and he, Michonne, Carl and Darryl, left the church. Maggie and Glenn approached Sasha.

"How does she look? Beth?" Maggie asked in choked voice. Glenn had his arms around her.

"Good. She works down there, I guess. When I first arrived down there, I passed out when I saw the Governor. When I woke up, Beth was at my bedside. She couldn't say much but she has been taking care of Herschel. I don't quite get how he's alive...considering how he died, but he is. Unfortunately, he seems to be under the supervision of the Governor."

"And Deanna thinks that the Governor is sane enough to be in charge of something?" Maggie asked, horrified.

"Much less Shane." Glenn said quietly. "Deanna doesn't know what they were both like?"

"Apparently they've been through some sort of 'training'. I mean Negan was put in charge here so her judgment isn't that good." Sasha said, as Abraham appeared by her side, and rubbed her back.

Meanwhile, Rosita just shook her head. This whole thing reeked of bullshit! There was no way any of this was true! And yet she could not help but think about Carol. What happened to her, exactly? Rosita slipped out of the church to walk over to the infirmary. Maybe Carol was awake and could shed some light on what the hell was really going on around here!

* * *

Deanna was on pain killers and was asleep in a cell adjoining Negan's. Negan didn't even bother to stand up, when Rick, Michonne, Darryl and Carl burst in!

"Wake your sister!" Rick ordered him.

"Rick? Glad to see you back! Do you have my shit? Did you bring something to the table? No? Oh yeah, that's right. You were too busy trying to fake your death."

"Sasha told us about the underground." Michonne said solemnly. "Now you're going to explain what is really going on around here."

"Sasha explained about the underground?" Negan asked as if he were clueless. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play with us!" Darryl snapped. "Sasha told us you've been fucking with us from the start! Wake your sister up or I'll do it for you!"

"My sister was shot in the ass! Go in that cell and I can make sure you die before the end of the day." Negan said coldly.

"How is that?" Rick asked. "The people you brought here are either dead or gone. You have some other people that could kill Darryl?"

"Like down below." Carl said coldly.

Negan grinned!

"Your son is quite the comedian there, Rick. Have you noticed that?"

Michonne moved so that she was pressed against the bars.

"I chased a man into your sister's house that looked a lot like someone I thought was dead. So see, I believe Sasha. And somehow, this man, reminds me a lot of you. And that's not a compliment."

"I didn't think it was." Negan replied.

"Then you can understand," Rick took over, "why we're anxious to clear this up. I don't expect **YOU** to tell us the truth. But I think Deanna is better than that. Even though she's related to you."

"I wouldn't bet on it." Negan said. That answer was all the proof Rick needed that Sasha was telling the truth. He nodded to Michonne, Darryl and Carl and the four of them left the cell room, closing and locking the door behind them.

"Well?" Rick asked.

"He's not trying to deny it. He's just daring us to find a way to this place." Darryl said.

"Sasha said it was a barstool in the basement. We could go over and try it?" Carl suggested.

"If we're being watched, then they have a way of making sure that barstool doesn't work." Michonne said.

"Maybe. Maybe not. I want to talk to Carol. It sounds like she may have seen the Governor and was drugged to keep her quiet." Rick said.

Meanwhile, the Governor stood with his arms folded and watched Rick,Michonne, Darryl and Carl.

Carl had grown. His daughter would have been about his age if she had lived.

He looked at Michonne and tried to block out thoughts of stabbing her in the eye.

Darryl looked like the nobody his brother had been and...

Rick. Good ole Rick! Why he didn't die from that beating he gave him...

The door opened and Dr. Jenner stepped into the security room and closed the door behind him.

"I'm in charge for now. Deanna is going to have to make a decision here." Dr. Jenner noted, watching the screens.

" **WE** have to make a decision, doctor. We lock up the entry point way at the barstool so no one can come down. Not even Deanna or Negan."

Dr. Jenner nodded.

"It's been done. But once Carol wakes up and remembers seeing you, there's no telling what they will do to get Deanna and Negan to get us to let them down here." Dr. Jenner said.

"What do you want to do?" the Governor asked.

"Leave the situation the way it is. Let Deanna and Negan handle it. They messed up by letting Sasha Williams leave here. And Negan was no better with his silly antics above."

"Okay. " the Governor agreed. "But I don't think Sasha should be blamed entirely. Negan is out of control up there. She was just trying to survive."

"I know he's out of control. And I think now, with him under 'arrest' by Rick's group, is the time to clean up some of his messes."

"Meaning what?" the Governor asked.

"I want to send Shane in there to turn the cameras back on at the 'Sanctuary'. Carefully though. Very carefully." Dr. Jenner said.

"How?"

"Well for one thing, we're going to give Shane a cover. A wife. I was thinking Sasha."

"Sasha? Pretending to be Shane Walsh's wife?"

"We would give them different names, in case they ran into anyone from their pasts."

"If they run into anyone in their 'pasts', then they'll know what their real names are anyway!" the Governor snapped.

Dr. Jenner eyed him.

"Look, I would've sent Beth with him, but she sounds like she's coming down with a cold. I think Sasha would be a better fit."

The Governor refrained from rolling his eyes! It was obvious Jenner had a thing for Beth Greene and didn't want her getting cozy with Walsh.

"You know, people get colds and I'm sure that wouldn't blow their cover." the Governor said.

"You're good at sneaking up above without getting caught-sort of. I want you to get Sasha down here and see if she will agree to this." Dr. Jenner said, as if he had not heard a word the Governor had said.

"And if she doesn't?" the Governor asked.

"We'll find someone else from one of the other sectors then." Dr. Jenner said and walked out of the room. The Governor clenched his jaw and went back to watching the consoles. He could see Abraham Ford and Sasha getting cozy in her house. Maybe now was as good a time as any to pay her another visit.

The Governor looked from Sasha's screen, to the one where Rick, Michonne, Darryl, Carl and a few other people he didn't know, were in the infirmary looking in on Carol. Tara was there as well.

Yes, the Governor thought as his eyes flicked back to Sasha's screen. She and Abraham were in the shower together. Now was as good a time as any to pay her a visit.


	12. Chapter 12

Sasha could not relax. She should have been able to, but she couldn't.

Abraham could feel her hesitancy in the shower, even as he moved his enflamed length within her with a heightened urgency that seemed to come out of nowhere. Or maybe it was because he had been without her for a day. Maybe it was because he had been scared to death for her, leaving her here with that animal and his people.

His body rattled and trembled, as if something deeper and more savage was waiting to emerge. His hands were glued to her hips as he bucked within her at an increasingly thunderous rate. Sasha forced herself to try and relax as she struggled to respond to his lunging thrusts. The heat of the shower and Abraham's nearness made her breasts swell and her stomach tingle and...

And suddenly she just stopped moving. She couldn't do it anymore.

Abraham stopped moving as well and groaned against the back of her neck. He cupped one of her breasts, kneading it while his heavy testicles were still smashed against her buttocks.

"Sugar? What is it?" he whispered and Sasha reached over and turned off the water. She wriggled away from him and opened the shower door. She wrapped a towel around herself and left the bathroom. Abraham felt like slamming his head against the shower door, but refrained from doing so. He followed her out without wearing anything.

"What's wrong?" he asked her. Sasha was looking up and around and when she turned to face him, she gasped!

"Abraham for the love of God! Put something on!"

"Why?"

"Because," Sasha whispered, "there could be cameras in here. There were probably cameras in the bathroom."

"So?"

"So?! Look, I'm not giving anyone down below a peep show!" Sasha sniffed primly. "I mean I think we might have to go out into the woods or someplace far away the next time we want to be together."

"I **WANT** to be with you now and I for damned sure am not going out in the woods! I mean, yes, we can do that some other time but not now!"

"No! Now I'm sorry, but until this whole thing is taken care of..."

"No? I'm sorry, what the figgity fuck does that mean, Sasha? Are you telling me the truth about this camera shit? Or did Negan do something to you and you're just not telling me?" Abraham demanded to know.

"Negan has never been anywhere near me! How could you think I would lie to you about that!"

"Alright," Abraham said, calming down some, "look,we'll wait until dark then."

"But what if the cameras can see in the dark?"

"What if there aren't any? Honey, I want you to see Denise." Abraham said, touching her shoulders.

"What do you mean? Why?" Sasha asked, confused.

"I just want you to see her. Just for my piece of mind."

"Abraham, Rick and Michonne believe me. I thought you believed me?"

"I do, honey. I do. But it occurred to me that when you broke into the basement, you could have hit your head. Negan found you and you kind of 'thought' all of that underground business was true. The barstool does not work."

"No, it doesn't. I didn't expect it to. They're watching..." Sasha trailed off and shook her head. She looked around for some clothes to put on and Abraham knew he had stepped in it big time.

"Sasha, don't get dressed!" he almost begged. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried to death about you and everything that's going on here!"

Sasha finished dressing a lot sooner than Abraham would have liked! She faced him.

"I understand. I do. I'm going to visit Denise, just to put your mind at ease, okay?"

Abraham smiled broadly and reached for her, but Sasha shied away from him and left their bedroom.

The Governor watched all of this happen with a small smile. One that Shane Walsh caught, as he entered the security room. The Governor half looked over at him, then turned off the monitor in Sasha's house. He swung around in his chair to face him.

"Shane. What brings you by here?"

Shane threw down a folder.

"I can see what brings you by." he said nodding towards the screen that the Governor had turned off.

"With Negan captured, someone has to step up in this sector." The Governor said and stood up to stretch his legs. Shane picked up the folder again.

"Dr. Jenner told me that that woman you were watching, has been assigned to be my wife on the Sanctuary deal?"

"Sasha hasn't agreed to anything yet. And if Beth gets well, you'll be paired with her."

Shane slowly sat down.

"I don't want to be paired with Beth. And it has nothing to do with her. Why don't we cut the bullshit here, okay?"

"Alright." the Governor said, genuinely curious as to what Shane was going to say.

"We've both been through re-training. We both know how to quell our 'murderous impulses', if that's what they were. But Rick is raising my daughter. And I know you have your problems with certain people there as well."

"What's your point?" the Governor asked, unwilling to admit to anything.

"I love Beth, but I need Sasha Williams to be my pretend wife on this thing. Beth was not there when they moved into this place. I need to know what's going on with Rick and Judith...hell, even Carl. Sasha can tell me that."

"But will she?" the Governor asked in an almost jeering tone. "What makes you think you can just start a conversation with her about Rick, and she'll tell you anything?"

Shane didn't answer him. He did nod towards the monitors and the Governor turned from him to see what was going on. On one screen, Sasha was headed towards Deanna's house.

On the other, Abraham was headed towards a tool shed. The Governor and Shane watched as Abraham tinkered around with a blow torch, just as Glenn walked up to him. They decided to listen in...

"What's going on?" Glenn asked.

"Have you been over at the infirmary?" Abraham asked.

"Yeah. Carol still hasn't woke up. That sedative she was given was strong."

"Did you see Sasha go over there?"

"No. Why?"

Abraham ignited the blowtorch!

" **THIS** is why! I need your help. You're going to hold Negan down while I 'question' him on just what the fuck he did to Sasha!" Abraham snapped.

"Whoa!" Glenn exclaimed. "What's going on?"

"My fucking was interrupted by the fact that Negan did something to Sasha! I'm through with this civilized shit!"

"Rick wouldn't like this." Glenn warned, just as Darryl walked up.

"What's going on?"

"Negan **DID** do something to Sasha and I want a piece of his ass! Glenn's going to hold him down while I get the truth out of him." Abraham told him.

"I never said I would help you torture him!" Glenn said. "Now would you calm down? Sasha said nothing happened."

"Yeah," Darryl said, "but Carol believed it. Carol who won't fucking wake up because she was drugged. I'll go with you." Darryl nodded to Abraham and they both headed towards the basement jails. Glenn swore and ran after them to catch up!

Meanwhile, Sasha knew that Spencer was out on a run with Morgan, so she slipped into Deanna's home through the back door and made her way to the basement. She hurried down the stairs and then stopped to stare at the tell tale barstool. The Governor and Shane watched her watch it.

"We should talk to Jenner first about letting her down here," Shane warned, "the others already think she's nuts."

"Rick and Michonne don't. And if I let her down here and she disappears, that will make everyone all the more suspicious." the Governor reasoned.

"Okay, so we make our way to her to ask her about the..." Shane began but stopped when he saw the Governor hit a button a couple of times. The barstool started to lower, then it rose, then it lowered, then it rose. Sasha glared at it, looking up and around, before walking over to it and sitting on it.

"What are you doing?" Shane asked. But he knew. The Governor then hit the button again and Sasha lowered into their world. The Governor returned the barstool to it's proper place in the dusty basement.

Meanwhile, Sasha found herself standing face to face with the Governor and the man that betrayed Rick with his wife.

The Governor stood up and smiled at her.

"Sasha. I'm glad to see you. It looks like you've been through a lot just in the past couple of hours."

Sasha looked at the monitors. There were a few that weren't on but she could see something was going on with Abraham, Darryl and Glenn! She walked over to that screen.

"Oh my God! Abraham has a blow torch! What are they doing?" she asked herself more than the two men.

"I think that Abraham is 'frustrated' by Negan." the Governor replied and they watched as the three men entered the cell area. Negan sat up. Deanna was lying on her side, awake. She looked very alert. And uneasy.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the ginger and his friends!" Negan grinned. "What can my sister and I do for your sorry asses?"

"Glenn, get the goddamned key." Abraham said, holding up the blowtorch. Deanna struggled to stand!

"Okay, guys, calm down! I know that Negan can be a bit much, but he **WAS** trying to make sure that Alexandria was provided for!" she insisted.

"This isn't about Alexandria," Darryl told her, "it's about what's right."

"Your pervert brother laid hands on my woman. Now he's going to answer for it!" Abraham yelled. "Darryl, when Glenn gets that door open, you get his fucking pants off!"

Now even Negan was uneasy!

"What the fuck do you all think you're about to come in here and do?" Negan asked in a level tone.

"You're getting a blow torch up the ass-literally, unless you tell me what you did to Sasha!" Abraham growled.

"And even then, you might just get a torch to the face!" Darryl snapped, then looked around. Where the hell did Glenn go?

Sasha, the Governor and Shane watched Glenn run from the house that contained the cells and over to Rick's home! Sasha exhaled, then looked at the two men in front of her.

"Do you see what you've caused? Let's just cut the game playing and tell everyone what's going on down here!"

The Governor turned off the monitors just as Dr. Jenner entered. He frowned at the sight of Sasha.

"Phillip? I thought you were going to talk to Miss Williams above ground? Why is she back down here?"

"Talk to me about what?" Sasha asked. "And who are you?"

"I'm sorry. We didn't have a chance to meet the last time you were here. I'm Dr. Edwin Jenner. I knew some of your group back in Atlanta. I am one of the chief strategists of Special X."

"Yes, Deanna mentioned you. I was just telling the Governor..."

"He's Phillip, now, Sasha," Dr. Jenner said gently, "all of that is in the past."

Sasha said nothing to that.

"I was telling your people down here, that I think that the people living above need to know what's going on. Deanna and Negan are our prisoners." Sasha said.

"Until they aren't." was Dr. Jenner's reply.

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing pleasant." Dr. Jenner said bluntly. "But I am glad you're here. We are trying to mitigate the damage that Negan has done to other communities. Communities filled with people that could easily re-intigrate into society again. But Negan got rid of the cameras and we need them re-installed or turned back on, and the people watched."

Sasha's mind went back to that map Negan and Simon had been looking at, the first night she met them. But she said nothing about that.

"What does that have to do with me?" she asked instead.

"I want to send you in to one of those communities to install the cameras and watch the people."

"Uh...I..."

"You would not be alone," Dr. Jenner told her, "you would be under cover, so to speak. We'll even give you a husband."

Sasha's eyes widened!

"What do you mean? If you want me to do this, then Abraham and I could pretend..."

"No. We need someone trained. Trained in the underground and someone no one has seen around these parts." Dr. Jenner said and nodded at Shane.

"I want you to meet the 'husband' we had in mind." Dr. Jenner revealed. 


	13. Chapter 13

Sasha reluctantly shook Shane Walsh's hand and tried not feel creepy about it. This whole thing was **CREEPY**!

The Governor sensed Sasha's discomfort and made another pitch to Dr. Jenner, to find someone else to play Shane's 'wife'...

"I still say we should find someone else to do his," the Governor said casually, "there are plenty of other women here that are trained for this sort of thing."

"Sasha's trained," Shane said just as casually, "and she can handle herself. Though I haven't heard her say she's agreeing to it."

Sasha looked away from Shane, who for whatever reason, tried to look meaningfully into her eyes! She should have never come down here-again!

"Look, Dr. Jenner, neither Abraham, or myself, have been to this 'Sanctuary'. No one would know us. We've been living in this messed up world for a long while. I'll tell Abraham what we need to do and then get out of there."

Dr. Jenner folded his arms and looked at the Governor.

"Phillip, would you excuse us? I want to speak to Sasha and Shane alone."

The Governor didn't protest but he didn't especially like the fact that Jenner was so determined to coerce Sasha into doing this. She had clearly said no. Beth Green or some of the other trained agents that resided down here, should be the ones to accompany Shane. None of those women had ever been seen above ground around here either. But the Governor nodded and left the room.

Dr. Jenner glanced at Shane before focusing on Sasha.

"It can't be Abraham and you. Shane knows exactly where the cameras have to go in order for them not to be detectable. Abraham would not."

"He would if you told him where they needed to go." Sasha argued.

"That's not happening." Dr. Jenner said simply. Sasha folded her arms.

"And neither Deanna, nor Negan, is going to back up what you've told the others. That barstool will never work for any of them, nor will they ever see you use it." Dr. Jenner continued in a level tone.

"Fine. Then I guess this is goodbye." Sasha replied. Shane nodded to Dr. Jenner.

"Why don't you let me try and explain?" he asked. Dr. Jenner nodded back, then turned and left the room. Sasha stared at Shane.

"Do you know how to work those controls? Because I'd like to go back up now." she told him.

"I know you don't know me. I know your loyalties are with Rick and Abraham. But would you please keep in mind that there are two sides to every story? That I have a side in this?" Shane asked calmly.

"I don't see what that has to do with this situation? Seriously, I'm supposed to sneak off and pretend to be your wife at some other stronghold? Or am I supposed to just go back and forth between Abraham and you? I'm not lying to Abraham about this. And I'm not lying to Rick about you. I think the way this whole thing is being handled is stupid. We could be of tremendous help to you all down here."

Now Shane folded his arms.

"Dr. Jenner doesn't think so. I'm not saying I agree with him, but this is the way he wants it."

"Can I go now?" was Sasha's reply.

"Sure. If you think you can handle Negan. I guess you want him to get away with all that he's done..."

"We locked him up, which is more than I can say for any of you! He's been given a 'sector'? What the hell is that? And the Governor runs whole areas of this country? Seriously?" Sasha griped.

"I didn't realize Phillip and you weren't friends." Shane said, looking her over. "He seems fond of you."

"He knows where he can keep his 'fondness'. Look, what I have with Abraham is new. I don't want to mess that up."

"And you don't want that other woman he was seeing to get in the way either, right?"

Sasha clenched her jaw.

"Just how much do you watch of my life?"

"I watch mostly Rick...Carl...and my daughter." Shane said pointedly. Sasha sighed.

"Okay, I think I'm beginning to see what you get out of this. If you think I'm telling you anything about Rick or his kids..."

"Sasha, I can get on that barstool, go up into Alexandria and **TAKE** my daughter, if I wanted to. Rick wouldn't be none the wiser." Shane said and he moved closer to her.

"I want you to give what Dr. Jenner is asking some thought. He wants to stop Negan as much as anyone. Negan either turned off the cameras at the other strongholds that he is threatening, or disabled them. Once we have proof that he is terrorizing other communities, we can show it to Deanna and put him in a rehabilitation program."

"And? Is that when you all come clean to everyone above?" Sasha asked.

"That's not my call." Shane answered.

"I want to go back up." Sasha said again and turned away from him. Shane walked over to a few of the monitors and clicked them on. Sasha turned back and saw that Abraham and Darryl were no longer in the cellblock with Negan and Deanna. They were in Rick's house, along with Michonne and Carl. Enid was feeding Judith.

Sasha moved away from the barstool and walked over to stand next to Shane. They both watched what was going on above...

"I want that goddamned key, Rick!" Abraham snapped. "Glenn had no business running over here to give it to you!"

"You need to calm down." Rick said coolly. "Now is not the right time to kill Negan. Or Deanna."

"No one is talking about 'killing' anyone, Rick! Just a little good old fashion torture!" Abraham insisted.

"Yeah," Darryl said, "And maybe if we threaten Deanna, Negan will tell us something about this underground."

"He's going to tell us anyway. Neither one of them will be able to take not being in charge or staying in those cells for very long. Negan, maybe, not Deanna." Rick said.

"Abraham," Michonne said, "I've known Sasha a little longer than you have. I think she's telling us the truth about her and Negan. Now calm down. We have control of this place again."

Abraham took deep breaths and Rick gently took the blowtorch from him. Down below, Sasha shook her head and looked at Shane.

"I need to go back up there."

"So I see." was Shane's answer.

"Do you?"

Shane stared at her.

"Your people are not going to find this place. Rick isn't going to find it."

"And I'm not coming back down here to be your pretend wife. So I guess we're at an impasse." Sasha said, turning to walk towards the barstool. She sat on it and looked at Shane. Shane slowly hit the button that would return Sasha back to her world. He watched her slowly ascend and she disappeared, just as the Governor returned.

""Well?" he asked.

"It's a no go. Or so she thinks." Shane said as he turned from the spot Sasha had been in and watched the screens.

What both men saw next, would be a game changer.

* * *

Sasha returned to the darkened basement and walked up the stairs. Moments later, Eugene emerged from behind a carton! He watched Sasha head up the stairs and close the basement door.

Eugene then walked over to the barstool and used a penlight to examine the chair itself and the foundation. The Governor shook his head!

"Isn't that the one that used to a science teacher?" he asked. Shane nodded.

"He could figure out a way down here."

"I'll let Jenner know." the Governor said. He turned and walked out of the room, but once outside, he stopped and thought the situation over and decided to propose something else to Jenner.

That they abduct both Sasha and Eugene and make them stay down here.

Sasha hurried out of the back door of Deanna's house, only to run right into Rosita!

"Rosita? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you. Everyone's looking for you. Carol just woke up. I thought you'd want to see if she backs up your story."

"Somehow I think you'd be more interested in her **NOT** backing me up. But thanks for the heads up. I'll go and see her now." Sasha said, walking around her. Rosita turned to glare after her and was about to walk off, when Eugene suddenly emerged from the house!

"Eugene? What were you doing in there?"

"Investigating. And Sasha is dead on. I watched her from behind a box, emerge from some lower level room. By way of a barstool. I then looked over that said barstool and deduced that it is transportation to this underground room."

"You 'saw' Sasha come up from there? That's where she was?"

"Yes."

"So she's telling the truth?! There are people hiding down below?"

"I didn't see anyone but her. But I plan to report this to Rick." Eugene said and walked off. Rosita took a few deep breaths, then looked at the back door, that Eugene had left open. She slowly walked inside.

* * *

Abraham was not going to ask where Sasha had been, since she clearly had not gotten herself checked out at the infirmary. Otherwise she would've already been there when Carol awakened.

Carol's eyes went right to Sasha, who nodded at her.

"I told them about the Governor." she said.

"Negan and Deanna are locked up." Rick said urgently. "Now tell us what you know."

"I know nothing! I was dragged into Sasha's house by Negan and the next thing I know, I'm wrestling with the Governor! How is that possible?"

Carol looked at Sasha when she asked that. Sasha sat down next to her.

"That night that I broke into Deanna's home, I saw Negan go to a secret place. Under the basement. I followed him and found that the Governor, Beth, Shane, Herschel and anyone that had not been killed by a walker, was down there. Dr. Jenner and Deanna have been running this secret government program. The plan, according to them, is to work on getting society back to what it was."

"Only they want to choose who will be living here, once it's back to normal." Rick said, his tone tinged with bitterness. How in the **FUCK** could Shane Walsh be considered more normal than him?

Carol said up and stared at everyone, unsure that she was even really awake!

"You're telling me that there are plans to fix all of this? That this world we're living in now, is not going to last?" Carol asked.

"It looks that way." Sasha said.

"So Deanna and Negan have taken you down there? I thought you said they were locked up?" Carol asked, looking at Rick.

"They are." Rick confirmed. "And neither of them are admitting anything. They're acting as if Sasha made the whole thing up."

"Oh that was the Governor I saw! He came from somewhere!" Carol insisted. Michonne turned away and walked out of the infirmary. Abraham followed after her.

"What are you thinking?"

"I think there is no way in the hell, I am living in a world where the Governor is still alive! He's done too much! I'm thinking we have construction equipment. Let's jackhammer our way down below!" Michonne hissed, just as Eugene came upon them.

"That may be the only way we get down there." Eugene said.

"What do you mean?" Abraham asked.

"I just saw Sasha come back from there and I examined the barstool. There is an explosive on the bottom of the stool chair. If anything is tampered with, Deanna's house explodes." Eugene said. Michonne threw up her hands while Abraham stared through the window. Sasha went down below to this place again? Why?

Meanwhile, Rosita crept down the stairs and stopped at the bar. There were three barstools and she had no idea which one was the one Sasha used. She looked around the basement, taking in the mess and dust, then approached the bar and got down on the ground...

She should have thought to bring a flashlight or something! Rosita stood up and walked around the basement, until she found a light. She turned it on and found it covered the bar partially. It would have to do.

Rosita then got down on the ground and saw a barstool that looked like it had been unscrewed a bit. That had to be the one.

She began to unscrew the screws some more, while jiggling it and...

The citizens of Alexandria were rocked by an explosion! Negan smiled from within his cell while Deanna struggled to stand up!

"Oh my God! If Spencer was in there..."

"He wasn't. I heard one of Rick's hick people talking about his going out with Morgan for a run. He wasn't in there." Negan assured her. Deanna glared at him!

"He wasn't but **SOMEONE** was! This whole thing wasn't supposed to be like this! We'll be blamed!"

"And they'll be dead if they try and blame us, sis. Just keep calm." Negan told her. But privately, he wondered who the nosy dumb ass was that died?


	14. Chapter 14

Rosita's death/murder was a shock, not to mention that poor Father Gabriel was killed by exploding debris outside of his church!

Rick, Darryl, Glenn and Michonne confronted Negan and Deanna in their cells. Meanwhile, Abraham was insistent on having some kind of burial service for Rosita and Father Gabriel.

He was also angry. Very angry. But he didn't know who with. Eugene or Sasha. Because he was now convinced that there was nothing down below anywhere, and that somehow Negan and Deanna had gotten into Eugene and Sasha's heads with all of this barstool, underground nonsense!

And they had been so convincing, that Rosita had gotten herself killed over it.

Abraham did not want to **NOT** believe Sasha. Or Eugene. Carol woke up and said she saw this 'Governor' and he had heard fifty million bad stories about this fuck. But he was the type of man that needed to see to believe. Carol saw him then was drugged. Michonne got a glimpse. Eugene saw Sasha come up out of the ground on a barstool that exploded just when Rosita touched a couple of wires or something? Rosita had a background in explosives! That should not have happened!

He was in Rosita's home. The one he had left to go and be with Sasha. He didn't hear Carol come into the bedroom looking worried. For him.

"How are you doing?" she asked softly, looking around. Rosita's bed was still made.

Abraham slowly sat down on the end of it. He shook his head. Carol sat beside him.

"We're going to take some of the construction equipment and get down to this place that Sasha saw. Rosita did not die in vain." she said.

"Didn't she? You really believe there is a place?"

"What are you talking about? I saw the Governor!"

"Or you thought you did! You were drugged, Carol!"

" **AFTER** I saw the Governor! Everyone else believes Sasha and me! Michonne saw the Governor running..."

"What about these other people? What about Maggie's sister? We saw her die in Atlanta! Hell, Carol, I just need to see some kind of **SOMETHING** that proves that this place exists! Otherwise, we need to get rid of Negan and Deanna and go about living our lives!" Abraham said angrily.

Carol stood up.

"Does Sasha know you feel this way? That you don't believe her?"

"I never said I didn't believe her! I never said I didn't believe you! But goddamnit a fucking priest and Rosita are dead! And if Negan and Deanna have made this shit up and are fucking with us in someway, we need to understand that!" Abraham yelled.

"Okay, okay. Look, I'll leave you to yourself, okay? The service is at four. Maggie and Sasha are working on a repast. Don't upset everyone more than they already are. If you're feeling like shit, imagine how Sasha and Eugene feel." Carol counseled, before walking out of the bedroom. Abraham rubbed his hand over his face. He needed proof. He needed proof or he needed for everyone to stop this damned talk altogether.

* * *

The repast for Rosita and Father Gabriel was going to be an outdoor affair. Picnic tables were pushed together and food was cooked. Food that some could not help but remember that Negan had brought into this community. But those that thought that way, kept their feelings to themselves.

Sasha was in the church, getting the building ready for the memorials. People were going to be invited up to say some nice things about both Rosita and Father Gabriel. At one point, Sasha stopped working and looked out of the window. She stared at the building that was holding Negan and Deanna. She had not seen them since that day everyone mistakenly thought Carol had been killed. Sasha wondered how much longer they could hold out, pretending not to know what she was talking about?

She then looked up and around, wondering where the cameras were in the church? And she was sure they were here, even in this place of worship. Sasha wondered if whoever was watching her, could see the unhappiness in her face?

Probably. She closed her eyes briefly as she thought of Abraham. He was angry. He hadn't said anything to her, but she just knew. He was angry with her.

Abraham had not tried to touch her in the days following the explosion. He slept next to her at night but even then, Sasha could feel the anger coiled within him, even as he slept next to her. It wasn't that she thought he didn't have a right to be angry, but she didn't understand what he was angry with HER about? And Sasha did not think the right time to ask him would be anytime soon. She told herself she would just let him work through this on his own. He seemed to want it that way.

Maggie walked into the church and looked around.

"It looks good in here." she noted.

"Does it?" Sasha asked quietly. She sat down in a pew and Maggie joined her.

"What is it?" Maggie asked quietly.

Sasha looked over at her.

"You haven't noticed it? Or are you just being polite?"

"I know that Abraham was devastated by Rosita's death, yes."

Sasha looked away from her.

"He blames me in someway. Or maybe completely. I don't know. I don't know what to do or say to comfort him. I just feel as if I should have kept my mouth shut when Glenn and Rosita got back here."

"No. Because if you had, I would've never found out that Beth and my father were alive." Maggie said.

"And Shane. And the Governor." Sasha sighed and stood up. She walked over to a window and Maggie peered at her. Something else was going on here.

"Eugene said he saw you come from below. What happened down there? Is Beth alright? Have you seen my father yet?"

Sasha turned back to her.

"I haven't seen Herschel. Beth is sick. I was told it was nothing serious but when I asked to see her, I was asked to do something."

"What do you mean?" Maggie asked, now standing up as well.

"Dr. Jenner said that Negan has turned off, or gotten rid of some of the cameras they use to watch the communities around here."

"Of course he has! He doesn't want people knowing what he really is." Maggie scoffed.

"Probably," Sasha agreed, "anyway, the plan was to send Beth and Shane into one of the communities as a married couple. But Dr. Jenner wants Beth to rest. I think she just has a cold, but still, he seems fond of her."

"Really?" Maggie asked curiously. "How old is he?"

"About Carol's age I'd say."

"Oh." Maggie said with little enthusiasm.

"The point is this: Dr. Jenner wants me to go with Shane to one of these communities, pretending to be his wife and reinstall or turn the cameras back on. Shane has made it clear to me that he'd like dirt on Rick and the kids! I tried to persuade Dr. Jenner that Abraham and I would be better suited for this sort of thing, but it has to be Shane and I...for whatever reason."

Maggie shook her head slowly. Sasha could see she looked angry.

"What?" she asked.

"I don't care what kind of rehab this place is offering. Shane is trouble. He killed one of our hands, Otis, when he stayed on our farm with Rick, his wife Lorie, Carl and the others. He then lied about it and in the end, he tried to murder Rick so he could have Lorie. You can't go along with this. You can't even **THINK** about going along with this. And neither can Beth!" Maggie warned her vehemently.

"Maggie, I think Beth and Shane are close. I mean I don't know how 'close', but I don't get the feeling she has any problems with him." Sasha admitted.

"Well she was probably scared to death waking up in a strange place! Shane, our father...even the Governor are people she recognizes. They're probably all drawn to each other in a way. But it's nothing more than that. Bethie knows better." Maggie groused.

Sasha said nothing more about it. She had said it was pretend...she was supposed to **PRETEND** to be Shane's wife. And that meant that Beth, if that's how it went down, would pretend as well.

But Maggie was getting out of sorts about it and that couldn't be good for the baby.

"I'm sure they'll find another woman for this assignment. They'll have to. I'm going to change for the service." Sasha said and left the church. As she stepped outside, she saw Rick, Michonne, Darryl and Glenn leaving the detention houses. They stopped to speak to Morgan, then the five of them walked off towards the sheriff's station. Sasha watched them for a bit, then made her way to the detention houses-to confront Negan and Deanna.

Negan smiled at her when she entered the cell area. Deanna was lying on her side on a cot.

"Well hello there, Miss Sunshine! I'm hurt that you haven't been by to visit sooner!"

Deanna rolled over and stood up.

"From what I've heard," Deanna said, "you haven't had the time, now have you, Sasha?"

Sasha looked from Negan to Deanna.

"Rick will never let the two of you out of here. Tell him what I already know and we can work together to rebuild this world."

Negan shook his head.

"That's not the way this is going to work." he told her. Deanna nodded in agreement with her brother.

"Rick and Abraham have proven to be loose canons. They won't fit into the new world that has to be rebuilt." Deanna said.

Sasha eyed them both.

"Just how do you plan on keeping them out of it? And from a cell?"

Negan looked her up and down.

"Let me ask **YOU** something: have you given anymore thought to Dr. Jenner's plan? You know the one where Shane and you pretend to be married? Are you really going to go behind Abraham's back like that?" Negan grinned.

Sasha backed away from the cells!

"How do you know about that?" she asked in a low tone.

"We know, Sasha," Deanna said, "because we just do! That's why whatever plans your group has here, will never work. Now do the right thing and let us out of here."

Sasha now focused on Negan.

"Dr. Jenner wants cameras installed or turned back on, in other communities that you apparently are torturing in some way. And there is no way he wanted either of you to know that."

"Dr. Jenner is not in charge down there. He thinks he is but he will be proven wrong." Deanna said and turned to sit back down on the cot, before then lying on her side. She couldn't quite sit yet.

"So someone is betraying Dr. Jenner? Is it the Governor?"

"Oh you mean Phil?" Negan asked. "I'll give you a hint: maybe...or maybe not."

Sasha rolled her eyes and started to turn away. She'd had enough of these two and she had problems of her own to deal with. But as she turned away, she felt Negan's hand grab her wrist through the bars!

"Let go of me!" she snapped.

"I want you to listen to me: my sister and I aren't bullshitting here. Rick isn't going to win this. You'd be better off telling everyone that you made all of this shit up."

Sasha pulled her wrist from his grasp!

"Rosita is dead. I can't say anything like that now and I wouldn't even dream of doing so! Eugene saw me come up from your secret underground. Carol and Michonne saw the Governor, so whatever it is you think you're going to get away with, it's not happening."

"What's not happening, Sasha Sunshine, is any of you all finding your way down into our cozy world."

"You can't go outside or feel the sun on your face. I wouldn't say it's too cozy." Sasha told him before walking out of the cell room. She slammed the door behind her, walked up the stairs and out of the house. Abraham, who was coming out of the house Rosita's house, saw her and headed her way.

Sasha saw him as well and steeled herself. Lately conversations with him didn't go so well or were nonexistent.

"Hi." Abraham said, looking behind her. "Were you in there with Negan and Deanna?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Abraham, I just wanted to see if I could get them to tell the truth about the underground and..."

But Abraham cut her off.

"I want to talk to you about that." he said and pulled her over by the footbridge. Sasha found herself helplessly pulled along and few people stared at them. When they reached their destination, Abraham laid his cards on the table.

"I want to leave this place. We're just going to get into the RV and go." he told her.

"You want to leave? What are you talking about? You're the one that said we had 'walls' and 'beer' and..."

"And Negan **AND** death! Sasha, honey, there is nothing to find below! Nothing! Negan set us up with this bullshit and now Rosita is dead. You could be next...hell, I could be next! There could be deathtraps everywhere around here. I want to leave after Rosita and Father Gabriel's funeral."

"So," Sasha said slowly, "you're back to not believing me?"

Abraham gently put his hands on her shoulders.

"Darlin', I'm just worried. There's another community that I want to take you to. With a real doctor. I want you to get looked at. Can we start with that?" he pleaded softly.

Sasha didn't know what to say. Because once she was pronounced healthy, then what would Abraham think next? That she was outright crazy? Or worse? Sasha didn't even want to know what was worse than being thought of as crazy.

But she decided to go along to get along.

"Fine, if it will make you feel better." she said. Abraham kissed her gently, then told her he would see her at the funeral. Sasha nodded but did not look at him. Everyone believed her except the person that counted. What was she going to do?

Sasha started to walk off the bridge, but suddenly the wood fell out from under her and she found herself falling and falling and falling until...

Until she landed in a soft net! Sasha coughed and forced herself not to panic, even as she felt herself being grabbed and helped out of it by none other than the Governor!

"Are you alright?" he asked softly.

"Am I...am I alright? What just happened?"

"There are other ways down here beside that barstool." the Governor said pointedly.

"So I accidentally came down here again?"

"No. You were 'invited' down. Dr. Jenner doesn't like what's going on up there. He thinks the quicker Shane and you..."

"Whoa! I don't know what's going on here, but I never agreed to that. I can't do that."

The Governor folded his arms.

"I am aware that things are not great between your boyfriend and yourself. But since Abraham wants to take you to the Hilltop, you could get in there and get the cameras working again."

Sasha eyed him.

"So when Abraham takes me there, that's when I do this?"

"Yes."

"So no pretending to be someone else's wife? Just Abraham and myself?"

"Yes." the Governor said stoically, as he tried to ignore the fact that Dr. Jenner was easing up behind her with a syringe.

"Well, I guess we can do that and..." Sasha began and then gasped as a sharp pain suddenly hit her in the back of the neck! She reached back there before everything went dark. The Governor reached over to grab her, to make sure she didn't drop to the floor, just as Shane walked in.

"So how is this going to go?" he asked casually, as he took Sasha from the Governor and picked her up. Dr. Jenner began talking.

"You'll use one of the shuttle cars to go down the tunnel that leads to a road above. That road leads to the Hilltop. Once there, you will find a black chevy parked on the side of the road. Get Miss Williams into that, drive to the Hilltop claiming to need help and sanctuary. Once you are in, both of you begin looking for the cameras. Turn them on if they are still there. If Negan managed to somehow get rid of them, there are three cameras in the trunk of the chevy. I want one in the main house in the first floor hallway, one in Gregory's office..."

"Who is Gregory?" Shane interrupted.

"He runs the Hilltop and he's deathly afraid of Negan." Dr. Jenner told him. "I want the third camera installed in the doctor's trailer."

Shane nodded and carried Sasha out of the room. The Governor looked at Dr. Jenner.

"I have to stress that I really don't approve of what's about to happen here." the Governor said.

Dr. Jenner clenched his jaw.

"I know that, Phillip. I really hope Negan was just kidding when he said you were the mole down here."

"He was messing with Sasha's mind," the Governor said coolly, "I have not been above ground since Rick and Abraham returned to Alexandria."

"I hope not. Funny thing is, the cameras located where I could prove that you were innocent, have been damaged. I can only half hear what's going on and in some parts, it's snow."

The Governor shrugged carelessly.

"Negan did it. Neither him or Deanna want you to see or hear who the mole is." he said calmly.

"Yes," Dr. Jenner said just as calmly, "that has to be it. I will be leaving you in charge of this sector. Beth and I are going to check on Herschel. Keep me informed if anything goes wrong with Shane and Sasha's mission." Dr. Jenner said and left the room. The Governor stared after Jenner. Hard. He didn't like taking orders. And he had felt for awhile, that a 'change' in leadership was needed down here. The Governor planned to work on that, just as soon as Sasha and Shane returned from the Hilltop.

Meanwhile, Shane drove the shuttle car to the assigned point, then got out and left an unconscious Sasha in the passenger seat. A man in a white, lab coat nodded to him, then walked with him a few feet towards a ladder on a wall. Shane slowly climbed up and into the hollow inside of a tree! There was a sliding door on the inside of the tree, that was metal. On the outside, it just looked like bark. Shane hurried out of the small thicket of woods and saw the chevy, parked on the side of the road. He knew he had little time before someone else saw the car and decided to take it for themselves.

The man in the lab coat had pulled Sasha out of the car and when Shane returned, they both helped get her above ground. Shane could hear the walkers and knew that they were probably making too much noise! He finally got Sasha above ground, picked her up and placed her over his shoulder, as the man in the white coat, closed the tree door, yet concealing another entry point to the underground-this time far from Alexandria.

Shane hurried to the car, got Sasha inside and then ran around to the driver's side. He started the car, noted the full gas tank and took off towards the Hilltop. At one point he glanced over at Sasha, who actually looked quite peaceful. He knew she would not be looking like that, when she woke up and realized she had been tricked into doing something she had not wanted to do.

But he was prepared for that. Shane Walsh, reborn, was prepared for anything.


	15. Chapter 15

It was Morgan, who just happened to be looking out of the window at the Sheriff's station, while Rick was talking, and saw Sasha suddenly 'drop' out of sight while standing on the bridge! He ran out of the station, startling Rick, Michonne, Darryl and Glenn, who raced after him, guns and weapons drawn!

By the time Morgan reached the footbridge, he found that Eugene was already there, on his hands and knees, examining one plank of wood.

"You saw her fall, didn't you?" Morgan asked, looking around now, puzzled.

"I did indeed." was Eugene's reply. Morgan shook his head wildly!

"This bridge looks fine! How did Sasha fall through it?" he asked, still looking around the area as the others caught up!

"What happened? What's going on over here?" Rick asked tensely.

"I saw Sasha just drop from the bridge! But everything looks fine and I don't see any sign of her!" Morgan exclaimed, now agitated as hell. Two people were dead, Negan and Deanna were being cute and Sasha had disappeared.

Eugene jumped up suddenly and walked to look underneath the bridge. Glenn and Michonne stared at one another, puzzled.

"So Eugene saw Sasha fall as well?" Michonne asked.

"I guess." Glenn replied. Darryl hurried to see where Eugene had went off to and found him crawling under the bridge.

He also saw him find a square of concrete, hidden by marsh grass. Eugene looked at Darryl.

"This concrete is wired."

"Like the barstool was?" Darryl asked. "Shit! You know how close all of us came to dying when we were messing with that stool?"

Rick shook his head at the others, unable to believe this was happening! Michonne turned and saw Abraham running over. Oh shit...

"What the fuck is going on over here? Where's Sasha? I just left her here! Why is everyone here?" Abraham asked, his tone a mixture of fear and anger. Michonne confronted him.

"Abraham, listen to me: it looks like Sasha might be down below again. Eugene has found more explosives that are supposed to keep us away." she said.

"I saw her drop. Just drop out of sight." Morgan said. "Now we know that there are other ways to get down there than that barstool."

"It would've been damned nice to know it before Rosita went and got herself killed!" Abraham seethed. But Rick looked around.

"We have another problem here: clearly we're being watched. I think we need to begin searching for cameras. We should've done that from the start. If they can't watch us, eventually, someone will make an appearance to find out just what's going on."

"And when they do," Glenn said, "that's when we keep them up here. Until they agree to take us below."

Michonne closed her eyes briefly. Oh how she hoped that 'someone' was the Governor! But Abraham's voice interrupted those thoughts.

"That's all well and damned good, but what about Sasha? How do we find her? Can we snip some wires on the explosive and jackhammer our way through the concrete?" he asked. By now, both Eugene and Darryl were on the bridge again.

"I don't think we should chance it." Darryl warned.

"But can it be done?" Abraham asked, now looking at Eugene.

"Yes. But it would take proliferation of special tools and luck, to keep ourselves from being killed as well. I think we should just wait for Sasha to return..."

"She was **TAKEN**! What if she doesn't return?!" Abraham snapped, now looking around at everyone. Rick walked up to him.

"If she doesn't return, then we go with your plan and use the blowtorch." Rick said firmly. Michonne seconded it.

"Yes," she said, "and we use it on Deanna as well."

* * *

Shane was well down the road from the Hilltop. He had decided it would be better if Sasha woke up and the two of them walked in together. If he took her in while she was out of it, their doctor would probably figure out she was drugged. And then their cover would look shadier than hell.

He heard her begin to moan, and he knew she was about to come around. He began to lightly slap her awake, just to move things along and when she finally did come to, she stared at him, uncomprehending.

"What? What am I doing here? With you?" Sasha asked, now looking around. She was in a strange car, on a strange road. She would have thought it was a dream except that she could see two walkers, coming out of the woods.

"This is how things are going to go down: we're like a mile down the road from a community called 'The Hilltop'. We're going to go in and say we've been out in the elements for days, that we were kicked out of another community...just let me do all of the talking..."

Sasha got out of the car and began walking off down the road! Shane watched her kill two walkers with a knife(Shane didn't especially like the fact that she had had that on her), then keep walking. He hurried after her and grabbed her arm!

"Let go of me!"

"Would you please listen? Please?"

Sasha pulled her arm from his grip. She had little choice. If she turned around to walk away, he could just follow her in that car.

"Do you have any idea what it is like to wake up from being dead? And I'm not talking about the physical feelings of it, because that I can't even describe. But I'm talking about how your last memories of what your life was like, are all you have. The people you were with are all you have. Do you know how goddamned relieved I was to wake up and see Beth? I thought we'd been rescued and that every person that I had known from my group, was in some kind of hospital, as well. Can you just imagine what that was like for me?"

"I can imagine it. I don't see what that has to do with abducting me and forcing me to carry this 'mission' out?"

"It has to do with putting this world right again. And someone like Negan has to be dealt with before any of that can happen."

"And I say he has been dealt with. We've locked him and his sister up."

"Sasha, he has other people that will do whatever he says, however he says, without him having to say a word! There are other 'Negan's' in these communities that if they catch a whiff that things aren't right with him, that he's 'locked up' someplace, there will be hell to pay for everyone at Alexandria-Judith included." Shane told her.

Sasha had never thought of it like that. That there were people elsewhere that **WANTED** to follow Negan. That wanted to act like him. Still, she had no proof that any of what Shane was saying was true.

"So there are Negan followers at this Hilltop place?"

"Dr. Jenner's feeling is 'no'. But there are two people there that know where Negan's central stronghold is."

Sasha nodded but began to feel queasy. Maybe it was the sun. It was very hot today.

"Alright, let's go back to the car. I feel lousy so we'll just say I need a doctor and start from there."

"Yeah that's the drug you were given. When we get there, we're going to say that we think you could be pregnant." Shane said.

"Uh no we're not! I'm just going to say I haven't eaten and I feel unwell." Sasha corrected him and began to walk back towards the car. Shane raised a brow as he walked behind her. He didn't see what would be wrong with telling the doctor that she could be pregnant. But she was sensitive about that red headed guy, Abraham, back at Alexandria...the one that as far as he could tell, she barely knew.

* * *

Jesus stood with his arms crossed in Gregory's study, as Gregory listened to Shane's story of how they came to find the Hilltop. He himself wasn't buying what he was hearing...

"So," Jesus said, interrupting Gregory, "you were with a group that had set up some kind of camp in the woods near here?"

"I wouldn't say it was 'near' here." Shane answered.

"I scavenge for the Hilltop here and I cut through the woods a lot. I just feel like I would've seen signs of a community nearby." Jesus replied.

"I didn't say we were nearby," Shane said, knowing that this Jesus guy, was not buying what he was selling. Gregory seemed to be a different story, however. He gave Jesus a look of rapprochement.

"Jesus, come on now! You can't know every nook and cranny of woods miles away from here."

"Actually I do." Jesus replied.

Gregory cleared his throat, as he didn't really have a good response to that. He himself, didn't leave the Hilltop without a driver and a couple of men that could fend off those undead things for him. But he didn't want to admit that to an outsider.

Gregory returned his attention to Shane.

"Mr. Walsh, Jesus here is just trying to be careful here. Can you give us anymore details about these people you lived with? Maybe Jesus knows someone from your camp?"

Shane decided to try another tactic. It was risky but it was better than nothing. And so far, neither Jesus or Gregory were going to let he and Sasha stay based on the half assed story he was telling now.

"Okay. I haven't been completely upfront."

"No shit." Jesus agreed calmly.

"We were living in a gated community. A real nice place called Alexandria. Things were fine until the leader of the place, sprung her brother on us. We didn't even know she had one. The guy had some men with him that basically threw some of us out of the community because we couldn't or wouldn't work for him. This brother...he put the moves on my wife. I suspect he may have done more. We just couldn't stay."

Jesus and Gregory looked at one another, before excusing themselves. Shane refrained from smiling! He knew he had hooked them. He also knew that they suspected that Negan was the 'brother' he was talking about. They left him in Gregory's office, closing a pair of sliding doors and speaking out in the hallway.

"They're talking about Negan!" Jesus hissed. "His wife is being examined by Dr. Carson now. It sounds as if Negan raped her."

"Christ, then they have to go!"

"Gregory! They need help!"

" **WE** need help! From Negan and his goddamned men! No! What if they weren't thrown out? What if they escaped this gated community? That means **SOMEONE** is going to come here looking for them! We can't take that chance!"

"Okay," Jesus sighed, "let's let them stay the night. Then I will ask Shane to take me to this community they were living in. It won't hurt to see just where Negan lives."

"What good is that going to do?! Seriously, these people are not going to want to go back there if they're on the run?"

"Alright...but we still give them a night here. I will present my suggestion and if they don't go along with it, then we send them on their way." Jesus said. Privately though, he still couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to all of this.

Meanwhile, in the study, Shane looked where Dr. Jenner said the camera was supposed to be and saw one of the tell tale cameras. They were very tiny and usually were mistaken for a dead spider curled up in the corner of the ceiling. He just needed to find out whether he could get that one working again, or if he needed to put up a new one. Shane turned as the sliding doors opened again and Jesus and Gregory returned.

"Mr. Walsh," Gregory said, "we've decided that your wife and you can stay the night. But with what you've told us, we can't afford to place our people in danger. That man you were referring to might come here."

"Actually," Jesus said, "I'd appreciate it if you could take me to this gated community you came from."

Now Shane folded his arms.

"I don't get why you'd want to go there if you're afraid he would come here?"

"We just need to verify your story. No offense." Jesus told him. The door opened to the house and Sasha wandered in to the study. Gregory smiled at her, a look that Sasha read as outright lecherous! But she smiled back and moved to stand next to Shane.

"Honey, is everything okay?" he asked. Sasha, who had just been examined by Dr. Carson, nodded.

"Everything is fine."

"But it's really not, is it?" Gregory asked. Jesus sighed and rolled his eyes!

"Gregory!" he admonished.

"Well come on! Her husband told us so we can talk about it!" Gregory sniffed. Sasha stared at them both in confusion before looking at Shane.

"What's going on?" she asked lightly.

"I had to tell them about Negan and what he did to you." Shane said calmly.

"You're not carrying his child are you?" Gregory demanded to know. "Because if you are, then you'll have to leave."

"Gregory!" Jesus yelled.

"Hey! I'm just trying to protect this community! If you're pregnant with his child he'll come here..."

"You know Negan?" Sasha asked, eyeing Shane. This was not the story they had agreed on!

"Yes," Jesus answered, "and while I understand why you all are running from him..."

"We were kicked out. Negan does not want us back there." Shane said.

"But that's not how he works. I just can't seem him letting you leave to live your life happily ever after someplace else." Jesus countered. Sasha realized that Shane had bombed out big time and decided to make this more convincing.

"We're not living happily ever after in this world, are we? Negan put us out because he thought we wouldn't survive...and he was suspicious that I could be pregnant with his child. He didn't want to take a chance that a baby could be used against him as a weakness. I'm not pregnant though."

"Why would he think you were?" Gregory asked.

"Because I was sick. Sick from being...being forced to be with him and hunger. Dr. Carson said I'm fine." Sasha said. Jesus and Gregory looked at one another, excused themselves and left the room again, closing the sliding doors. Once they closed, Sasha turned to Shane.

"What happened?! Why did you change the story like that?"

"Because Jesus apparently is quite the scavenger. He knows every part of the woods around here and didn't believe we were living in them with other people." Shane said, now looking up at the tell tale, curled up looking spider in the corner.

"Is that one of the cameras?" Sasha asked.

"Yeah. And I need to see if it still works or I I need to put a new one in here. We're probably only going to get a night here." Shane said.

Sasha squinted at the camera.

"I thought you said the cameras were in the trunk? If they're so small why are they in there?"

"Small or not, that's the safest place for them. Did you tell the doctor anything that could go against our story here?"

"I just told him we left a community, had been on the road for days and that I wasn't feeling well." Sasha replied, now looking around the office more. This really was a nice house. It looked as if there were room for more people to live here, but from what she could see, the majority of the Hilltop people lived in trailers outside.

Her eyes returned to Shane's, as she noticed he was staring at her in an odd way.

"What?"

"So if I do this," Shane said and impulsively kissed Sasha quickly,taking her by surprise, "could you try to act like it was something we do all of the time?"

Sasha's answer to that was to slap him, just as the doors opened again and Gregory and Jesus returned.

"You will stay the night and then tomorrow, Shane is going to take Jesus back to Alexandria. Your wife can stay here and rest until we figure out what to do." Gregory said. Jesus looked at them suspiciously. Was it his imagination or had he and Gregory walked in an argument between Mr. and Mrs. Walsh?

Sasha thought about the offer. Now that she knew what these cameras looked like, she could help with this 'mission', then pull anything she saw that looked 'dead spider like', from the buildings in Alexandria when she returned. She smiled at them, nodding her acceptance of their offer, while trying to forget what Shane had pulled a few moments ago.

Shane refrained from rubbing his cheek. Maybe the seriousness of this mission was lost on Sasha. Once they were alone, again, he would ask her that same question again-and hopefully not get slapped.

* * *

Maggie could not keep quiet after hearing about Sasha's disappearance. There was a meeting at Rick's house about what to do next, and she was forced to reveal what Sasha had told her about the 'assignment' Dr. Jenner wanted her to go on with Shane...

Abraham slowly rose from his chair. Everyone's eyes were on him.

"I'm getting the blowtorch out. Again. And I'm going to get some fucking answers out of Negan and that sister of his! I bet you dollars to fucking donuts that they know what's going on here and where Sasha is!"

Rick's jaw tightened.

"Sasha said that Dr. Jenner wanted her to pretend to be Shane's wife?" he asked, not happy to hear about any of this himself.

"She said that Beth would've been given the assignment, only she's sick. Sasha said that it 'looked' as if Beth and Shane were close, but I know Beth has better sense than to trust him!"

"Beth is sick?" Michonne asked. "With what?"

"I think it's a cold. I **HOPE** it's a cold! I need to see her and my father." Maggie said and Glenn squeezed her hand.

"We all do," Michonne said, thinking how nice it would be to see Herschel again, "but we have to play this smart. I don't know if torturing Negan or Deanna is going to get us what we need."

"No," Abraham said, "but we can find out where these other communities are. They have to be going through the same shit we are."

"And it doesn't sound like they know that they are being watched." Morgan said.

Rick nodded to Abraham.

"Let's go." he said and they left the house first. Glenn looked at Morgan and Darryl.

"We're going to just stand around and let them take a blowtorch to a woman?" he asked. Maggie said nothing. Michonne looked away. Darryl spoke.

"It's time to cut the bullshit, that's all. We need answers. And if Shane is the same bastard I remember him being, then Sasha isn't in good company. And maybe I'd like to see Beth again too." he said, nodding to Maggie.

Meanwhile, Rick and Abraham entered the cell block and Negan rolled his eyes when he saw the blowtorch! Not this shit again!

Deanna held on to the bars tightly, but kept calm.

"Rick. Abraham. What is the meaning of this?"

"The meaning is that Sasha has been kidnapped by one of your stooges! Someone that we can't see around here! You're going to fucking tell us where she is or you're going to get more than a bullet in the ass, lady!" Abraham snapped.

"You'll watch how you speak to my sister." Negan said calmly, his eyes boring into Abraham's.

"Or what, fucker?" Abraham asked in calmly, igniting the torch and moving it towards his cell. Rick stepped in.

"What do you know about a mission Sasha was going on? With a man named Shane Walsh?" he asked.

Negan's response was to grin!

"Oh has that happened already?" Negan asked. Deanna gave her brother a warning look!

"Negan!" she yelled.

"Hey, I'm tired of going to the bathroom in a goddamned bucket here! And you need more medical attention, no thanks to the ginger here, than you've been letting on! Yeah, I know where she was sent. There's another community called 'The Kingdom'. It's run by some batshit, crazy guy that calls himself King Ezekiel and has a tiger! A fucking tiger! Let us out of here and I'll give you a map on how to get there. And how to get Sasha back." Negan said.

Rick shook his head.

"We're going to need a bit more than that." he said.

"Like?" Deanna asked. She was actually unaware of this place and was now forced to wonder just how much Negan was actually hiding from her?

"Like the keys to this goddamned underground Sasha has been going on about." Abraham said. "And if you don't give us what we've asked for, not only are you both going to take a torch up the ass, but you won't be getting a 'bucket' at all from now on."

Deanna sighed and turned away from them. Negan glanced at her. Granted, this was not the play they had wanted to make. But some control needed to be regained around here-and down below.

"Alright. Fine. Let us out and we'll show you how to get below." Negan told them.


	16. Chapter 16

The Governor stood before the monitors, shaking his head. Negan and Deanna had actually caved. For a brief second, he wondered if this was a trick on Negan's part? Was he going to pretend to lead them to the underground and then somehow get himself and Deanna down here, undetected?

But as he watched them head towards the telltale bridge that had brought Sasha down here, the Governor realized that this was real. Negan, despite all of his big words and bravado, had caved to Rick Grimes and Abraham Ford, all because he had to use a bucket to go to the bathroom!

The door to the control room opened, and for a brief second, the Governor wondered if Dr. Jenner had returned early?

But he turned to see none other than Garth, the goddamned cannibal from that Terminus place! The foundation of that Terminus compound had been solid and once the biters were disposed of, it was remodeled as a day hospital for some of the newer people brought back to life. Dr. Jenner wanted to begin testing the idea of people being above ground again.

Garth had had nothing to do with the remodeling. He had actually finished his 'therapy' and was found to be fit. He had been given control of a sector in the Midwest, which begged the question of what he was doing here?

Garth stared at Rick on the monitor.

"You're just as obsessed with him as I am." he said, folding his arms as well. The Governor gave him a disdainful glance. How the hell someone ended up eating people, he did not know, or want to know.

"I'm not obsessed with anything, Garth. Not anymore. And if you are, then maybe you need re-training." the Governor said smoothly.

Garth ignored him. He had about as much use for Phillip Blake as anyone else around here. He had managed to piece together that it was because of this one eyed blow-hard, that Rick Grimes and his group, even came his way. Someone in Rick's group had killed his mother. But his 're-training' had taught him to forget about that.

For now.

Garth now peered at the screen.

"What is going on there? It looks like Negan and Deanna are about to bring Rick and his people down here?"

"So it does." the Governor said, eyeing Michonne onscreen.

"Okay well are we going to put some safeguards in place so they can't get down here?" Garth asked, eyeing the Governor.

"No."

Garth's mouth dropped open!

"I think we need to let Dr. Jenner in on this!"

The Governor gave Garth his full attention.

"Dr. Jenner is the reason this situation that you see here, was allowed to get out of control. Negan needs reigning in. Deanna has lost control of the Alexandria sector, if she ever controlled it at all."

Garth raised a brow.

"I like Deanna. And Reg. Reg is looking forward to recovering enough to see his wife again."

The Governor said nothing but continued to stare at him.

"What are you planning?" Garth finally asked.

"You'll see." was the Governor's answer. He then walked over to a console and hit three buttons. The room that the group would end up in once they came down here, would be closed off by brick walls. One of the walls would open—only if Rick's group did what he said.

* * *

Deanna told herself that this whole thing was salvageable. She had no doubt that Dr. Jenner had security waiting to take Rick and his people into custody. From there, they could decide who would fit into the new world, and who would have to be 're-trained'.

Negan himself had no plan. They were going down below and he'd let Jenner deal with this shit! He figured Rick and Abraham, crazy bastards that they were, could be re-trained—maybe Michonne and Carol as well. But everyone else could probably be trusted to be brought into the underground.

Abraham felt dread. Absolute dread. Sasha had been right. She had been right and he had doubted her. He suddenly was desperate to be with her again, just so he could make things right. Because things were very wrong right now.

Rick and Michonne held guns on Negan and Deanna as they stood under the foot bridge.

"Alright," Rick said, "open this place up."

Negan rolled his eyes and and reached up under the bridge and hit a button! Rick glanced at Michonne, who's mouth tightened. Why the hell couldn't Eugene find that button when they were here before?

The dirt under the bridge moved to reveal a ladder. Negan began to go down first, followed by Deanna…but Michonne grabbed Deanna's arm!

"No, Rick goes next." Michonne said. They would wait for Rick to call out whether they could come down or not.

Negan slowly descended the ladder. When he got to the bottom, he looked around and frowned. What the fuck was this?

There was a room, one that he had never seen before, with a white linoleum floor and four brick walls. Negan saw an intercom, just as Rick came down.

"What the hell is this?" Rick asked, not liking what he was seeing. This didn't look like much of an 'underground' to him. But then he took spied the intercom.

"Is it safe?" Michonne called down.

"No!" Rick yelled back up, looking at Negan.

"You expect me to believe that Sasha dropped down into this room and just what, disappeared?" Rick asked Negan sarcastically.

"No, Rick. She did not." the Governor's voice boomed out from the intercom. Negan grinned at the look on Rick's face. Rick walked over to it.

"You sonofabitch. Where are you?" Rick asked quietly.

"I don't like your tone, Rick. I never did. Get Deanna and Michonne down here. And Sergeant Ford." the Governor ordered. Negan stopped smiling. What the fuck was this?

"No!" Rick snapped. "You want to deal with someone, you'll deal with me."

"You continue to baffle me, Rick. With regards to Michonne. I once asked you to bring her to me and you refused. I can see you're with another woman now…just ask Michonne to come down with Deanna and one of these walls opens. You can find Sasha down here." the Governor almost purred.

Negan didn't like the sound of this shit!

"Why are we talking to you, Blake? Where's Dr. Jenner?" Negan asked.

"Someplace else. I've been left in charge."

"That wouldn't be happening." Negan said. "You know what? I think Rick and I are going to mosey back up above…"

"Rick," the Governor said, talking over Negan, "Negan is terrorizing other communities, forcing women to sleep with him that don't want to, for food and shelter We're trying to eliminate problems when society gets up and running again. Now who would you rather be dealing with? The piece shit standing next to you or me?"

Rick stared at the intercom for a moment, then yelled out for Michonne to come down with Deanna. Negan leaped on Rick, but Rick managed to punch him three times quickly, knocking the wind out of him! Negan slumped to the floor just as Deanna and Michonne came down. Both women looked surprised at the state of the room. Deanna hurried over to Negan and tried to crouch down next to him, ignoring her own wound.

"Negan, what is this room?"

"Something good ole Phil came up with!" Negan hissed.

"Phillip? Where is Edwin?" Deanna asked.

"Hello, Michonne." the Governor drawled. "I know you are looking forward to seeing me as much as I am you."

Michonne stared hatefully up at the intercom!

"I'm going to kill you." she said softly.

"You'll get the chance to try….right after you kill Deanna. Rick, I need for you to take care of Negan there. Do it and one of these walls will open up." the Governor said. Just as Abraham made his way down.

"What the fuck is this?!" Abraham snapped. He was holding Negan's bat.

"What this is, Sergeant Ford, is your chance to be with Sasha again." the Governor said.

* * *

 **HILLTOP/NIGHT—**

Shane and Sasha were allowed to sleep in a room in the house, upstairs. Shane suspected that they weren't thrown outside in a trailer, because Gregory and Jesus, wanted to keep an eye on them. He realized that installing those cameras tonight, was a no-go.

He looked at the few he had removed from the trunk of the car he and Sasha had arrived in. He was lying on the bed, wearing nothing but pajama bottoms that had been scrounged up for him from somewhere. Sasha came out of the bathroom, wearing a pajama tee and shorts, her hair a mass of curls. She eyed Shane's lounging form, then walked over to a chaise. She would sleep on that.

Shane stopped fiddling with the cameras and watched her.

"Okay, you can't sleep on that." he told her.

"I've slept on the ground many, **MANY** times. This will be fine."

"That's not what I mean. We're being watched." Shane said and patted the bed.

"I'm not sleeping in that bed with you." Sasha sniffed and settled down on the chaise. Shane didn't say anything at first. He finally stood up, put the micro sized cameras in a duffle bag, kicked it under the bed and faced her.

"This is about our kiss? Earlier?"

"It was not 'our' kiss. You suddenly tried to jam your tongue down my throat."

"I didn't use any tongue."

"Well I felt it!" Sasha snapped and jumped up from the chaise. "Look, I can't pretend that way. Now I told them a story about Negan and myself that will explain why I seem so standoffish with you. Let's just stick to that, okay? We won't be here that long anyway."

"Sasha, we can't have anyone coming in in the middle of the night, and seeing you way the hell over there, away from the bed. Jesus wants me to take him back to Alexandria tomorrow. I think we both know I can't walk through those gates with him."

Sasha slowly sat back down on the chaise.

"That's your fault, Shane. Yours, the Governor's, Negan's, Deanna's…I mean just tell these people the truth! Jesus looks like he would be willing to help underground."

"Does Gregory?" Shane asked sardonically. Sasha looked away.

"Okay then. Now just come to bed. I'll be on the right side, you take the left and it will all be good." Shane said tiredly. He sat down onto the bed and got under the light cover that covered it. Sasha stared over at him for a brief moment, then got up and walked over to her side, gently getting in and under the blankets. Shane then turned off the lamp. Sasha's head hit the pillow and she closed her eyes. The pillow felt good.

"Tell me how you met Rick?" Shane asked softly in the darkness. Sasha said nothing. She still believed this man was trying to pump her for information to use against Rick, or even worse, so that he could get his hands on Judith.

But a simple question about herself, she was willing to answer. For now.

"My brother Tyrese and I were with some people, looking for a safe place to be. To live. Anyplace that was out of elements. We came upon a prison and found a way in. We didn't realize other people were there already."

"Meaning Rick?"

"Yes."

"So you met Lori?"

Sasha lifted a brow in the darkness.

"No. My understanding was she had died."

"Just died?"

"Good night, Shane."

Shane sat up and turned on the lamp. Sasha sighed and sat up.

"You have something you want to say to me?" Sasha asked in a daring tone.

"I asked you to keep in mind that there are two sides to every story. My side is that I loved Lori."

"My side is that I didn't ask to hear it! You need to be worrying about what's going to happen when you eventually run back into Rick!"

"Rick is the one that needs to be worried. Where I am, the underground, is safe. Alexandria is not." Shane said, looking into her eyes, before he reached over to turn off the lamp.

But Sasha reached over and stopped his hand.

"What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean, is that I'm playing nice. For now. But I have every intention of taking Judith away from Rick. The underground is safe. Here, where we are, is not safe for a child."

Shane then turned off the light and laid back down. Sasha stared at him for a moment and then…

" **CHRIST**!" Shane yelled and jumped out of bed. Sasha had kicked him the back! Sasha turned on her light and jumped out of bed!

"You know what? I've heard your side and I don't care! I'm through with this 'mission' and I'm through pretending! I plan to tell these people what the hell is going on and that there is a place they can get help! And I think it's messed up that the only people I've seen walking around from the 'underground', are people that should have stayed dead!"

Sasha spotted her clothing in a chair and walked over to it, but Shane jumped out of bed and beat her to the chair! He grabbed her clothing, walked over to a window and threw the pile outside!

"You sonofabitch!" Sasha hissed, just as Jesus threw open their door.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Jesus asked, looking at them both in confusion, "but there are people here to see the both of you. People from Alexandria."

Shane looked stunned! Sasha hurried past Jesus and out of the door! She ran down a hallway and stopped on the stair landing…

Abraham was holding Negan's bat! The Governor was also downstairs with men she didn't recognize! Why was the Governor with Abraham?

The Governor nodded to Abraham, who dropped the bat and ran upstairs to meet Sasha! She threw her arms around him, happy and relieved that he was here! Abraham held her tightly, as his eyes took in Shane, dressed in nothing but pajama bottoms…

He let go of Sasha and walked up to him.

"If you put your hands on her…"

Shane's response was to punch Abraham so hard, that his knees buckled! Sasha was a bit shocked, since she had seen Abraham take more than a few punches and still stand upright. She hurried over to him, while keeping an eye on Shane. Abraham was a bit stunned as well. He could usually gauge how hard a man could hit judging by their size and weight. Shane's punch was harder than it should have been.

Then again, Shane Walsh shouldn't be alive either.

Shane ignored them both and walked over to the railing.

"What is this, Phillip?"

"Negan is dead. So is Deanna. We're starting over." the Governor said coolly. Gregory looked up and smiled at Jesus, who looked shocked! Negan was dead?

"You're sure he's dead?" Gregory asked.

"I watched Rick kill him myself." the Governor said, now looking up at Shane. "Michonne took care of Deanna. I'm in charge now."

Shane, Jesus and Abraham, found themselves wondering what **THAT** meant. But Sasha wasn't wondering, as her eyes locked with the Governor's. She'd been down his road before.


	17. Chapter 17

**ALEXANDRIA-ONE WEEK LATER**

Things were strange now. At least they were to Sasha.

One, The Governor was not as 'in charge' as he had lead people to believe. Dr. Jenner returned with troops. No one thought there were any military people left in charge anywhere. But Dr. Jenner found a large number of them from somewhere and took the Governor, Rick, Michonne and Abraham into custody! Custody? As if there was such a thing as 'custody' anymore.

But apparently there was. Reg Monroe was the driving force behind the arrests, since he was now recovered and did not have a wife or brother-in-law(not that he'd ever been fond of Negan). Spencer was pretty livid as well.

Rick, Michonne and Abraham were taken underground and kept there.

But even worse, Shane and Garth were left in charge of Alexandria! Garth, the goddamned cannibal that had eaten Bob's leg was brought back to life! He was alive but Bob and Tyrese were dead?! This was unbelievable and couldn't be allowed to stand! It couldn't!

Beth was also above ground. Maggie and Glen had went underground to get Maggie checked out by a real doctor. Morgan did not go anywhere and was keeping an eye on Shane and Garth, along with Darryl. Dr. Jenner had tapped Eugene as someone who could be useful scientifically. The house Rick **USED** to live in, was remodeled as a lab of sorts for Eugene to work in.

The whole turn of events were already unbelievable. And if all of that wasn't bad enough, Shane insisted that Judith stay with him in his house, so he could get to know her. Carl insisted on staying above ground to keep an eye on him. Their 'new' community was a volatile combination of people, and Sasha, for one, didn't know how long this would last until someone got killed.

Or with Garth here, eaten.

* * *

It was a new morning and Sasha awoke alone and angry. She looked over at Abraham's empty side of the bed, then shook her head. They were dependent on Beth for news as to what was going on with Rick, Michonne and Abraham. Only approved people were allowed below and suddenly, Sasha was not approved!

Beth was forced to reveal to Darryl, that his brother Merle had flunked his re-training three times! Sasha didn't know what Merle Dixon had been like, but she had a bad feeling that he wasn't someone that would ever fit into a civilized society.

Sasha got up, determined to treat Alexandria as she always had— like a place that needed to be guarded and protected. She took a shower, got dressed and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She needed to see Abraham, and Beth was not going to help her get down there.

Sasha walked down the stairs and in to her kitchen. A knock on the back door interrupted her rummaging through the refrigerator. She walked over to the door and opened it to a smiling Herschel! Good God! When had he arrived?

"Herschel!" Sasha cried out, hugging him. He still had a leg and a half and he sported a nasty gash, where the Governor had be-headed him at the prison.

"Bethie thought you could use some company." he drawled, as he made his way into the kitchen. Sasha closed the door.

"How is everyone doing down there? What is happening?" Sasha asked, joining Herschel in a chair at the table. Herschel looked grim.

"It's not good."

"What does that mean?"

"Dr. Jenner isn't easily accepting Rick's explanation of what happened. I believe him. I believe Michonne and that young man you're fond of. But Deanna Monroe was a congress woman."

"We don't have a congress anymore! I'm not saying what happened was right, but it was done because Rick, Michonne and Abraham thought that they would find out where I was. This isn't right. I should be allowed to speak up in their defense."

"Dr. Jenner saw what happened on the cameras. But Reg and Spencer have a side as well. And they blame Rick for a lot. Unfortunately, it looks as if Pete Anderson will be allowed to testify against Rick. Jessie is going down below with the boys to see him."

"Oh she can go to see her wife beating husband, but I can't see Abraham?!" Sasha snapped.

"Honey, I'm sorry. We don't run anything here."

"No, Shane and Garth do! Garth is a cannibal, for God's sakes! You remember Bob don't you? He ate Bob's leg! Ate it!" Sasha sniffed. Herschel covered his hand over hers.

"Sasha, I know all about him. I plan to keep an eye on him. Just like I plan to keep an eye on Shane and Judith. Everything is going to be fine now." he said soothingly, just as Darryl entered the kitchen. Sasha looked at him with surprise. She hadn't heard him come in. She could see by the look on his face that Herschel's arrival was no surprise.

"Beth asked me to look for you. Denise wants to examine you. Just to make sure you're alright." Darryl told Herschel.

"I've been examined already. Thank her just the same. Where is Bethie now?"

Darryl gave Sasha a look and she knew something was wrong.

"She's trying to keep the peace between Shane, Carol and Carl. They want to spend some time with Judith and Shane is saying no." Darryl said in an emotional sounding voice. Herschel stood up.

"Looks like I might need to head over there myself." Herschel said and left by way of the kitchen door. Once he was gone, Sasha threw up her hands!

"Is this really happening? Next thing you know, the Governor will be the only one freed!"

Darryl looked up and around.

"Where are those cameras?"

"I took them out. All the ones I could find. Why?" Sasha asked.

"Because I'm going to ask you something, and I don't want anyone else knowing." Darryl replied.

"Okay. Ask away."

"There are things men notice. At least things I've noticed. Shane likes you. Or at least his eyes follow you everywhere you go, even though you don't talk to him."

Sasha rolled her eyes!

"You're wrong, Darryl. You know how I know that? Because Shane is in love with a dead woman. He can't get Rick's wife off of his mind and what could have been. That's all he's ever talked about with me."

Darryl sighed.

"That doesn't surprise me. Shit, if Rick returns here Shane is as good as dead."

"I'm scared that he will never return here! Or Michonne or…" Sasha could not even say Abraham's name.

"You know," Darryl said, "have you ever talked to Beth or even Herschel, for a long period of time? It's like they don't quite feel what we feel about this whole thing? I don't get it. It's like they're sorry but they are willing to accept that Rick, Michonne and Abraham could be killed."

"Yeah. I've noticed. I think they've all bonded in a way. They're not undead, they are alive after missing long periods of time and people. It's like a club." Sasha said, thinking what Tyrese and Bob would have been like, if they had been returned to life. Would they too not be able to see how truly bad this situation was?

"Going back to Shane," Darryl said, "I'm going to ask you to befriend him. Just see if you can get him to get us down below. At least one of us. We have to find out for ourselves how that world is down there and if there is even a trial going on."

Sasha backed back a bit.

"What are you saying?"

"That we need to find out if Jenner is a goddamned liar. He's just as good at killing as he is bringing back the dead." Darryl said grimly. "You're one of the few people here Shane doesn't have some past problem with. You might be our only chance to find out what's really happening."

Sasha nodded. It was either befriend Shane or Garth. The former was preferable and the only one of the two men she was going to even try to be civil to.

* * *

Sasha left her house shortly after Darryl exited. She looked over at the home that Shane was staying in. It was the one Rosita had lived in. Thinking about Rosita made her think of Abraham, for like the umpteenth time this morning.

She was afraid. Afraid for all of them. Afraid for Abraham and afraid that the Governor would somehow escape unscathed. He had started all of this.

She stepped off of her porch and looked towards Shane's house. Herschel and Beth were sitting on the porch with Judith, who was playing with some kind of dollhouse that Sasha had never seen before. It was not like she knew Judith's toys by heart, but somehow it looked new. As she began to make her way over there, Garth suddenly blocked her way!

"Hello, Sasha." he said quietly. Sasha raised a brow in response. Garth cleared his throat and continued talking.

"How are you?"

"I don't know. How is Bob? Oh, yeah, he's dead. Dead without a leg!" Sasha snapped.

"Is that really fair?"

"Are you serious?!"

"He was bitten before we…before…well before the 'incident'. And when he was nice enough to tell us that he'd been bitten, we spit out his leg…"

Sasha slapped him, causing Beth to hurry over! Herschel stood up and even Judith stopped playing.

"How **DARE YOU** come near me with that story! Stay the hell away from me and you stay the hell away from the kitchen, knives an oven or any other place here where cooking can take place! There are people here that have no idea what you are!" Sasha seethed.

"I am not that man anymore! Dr. Jenner helped me realize that. I am sorry about Bob. I am sorry about everything. Sasha, if your group had not escaped, I would not have eaten you. I swear to God! We need to try and get along here, okay?" Garth asked kindly.

"Uh Garth," Beth interrupted, "Dr. Jenner is looking for you. Maybe you'd better go below for a bit."

Garth nodded and Sasha's attention was diverted slightly. She noticed that Garth went into Shane's house. Beth had told Garth to go below so he goes into Rosita's house? Had there been a way below in that house the whole time?

Meaning, if Rosita had known, would she still be dead? Maybe.

Or maybe not. All they knew was that the controls under the foot bridge, suddenly didn't work. Deanna's basement controls after the explosion were locked up tight. So going there was a no go.

That left wherever or however she ended up in a car with Shane Walsh. She had dropped into the underground, from the footbridge. Shane had not pulled her out of there in Alexandria. That meant there were other points of entry outside of this community. There almost had to be.

Sasha noticed Beth was staring at her.

"Are you alright? Do you need to sit down? I know that seeing Garth again had to be upsetting. I've made some lemonade. Daddy and I were just having some with Judith."

Sasha tried really hard not to stare at her. Beth had to know what Garth was and yet she somehow thought drinking lemonade would make it alright?

"No thanks. I was actually concerned about Shane and Judith. I heard that there was an altercation earlier between Shane, Carol and Carl…"

"Oh," Beth interrupted, "yeah, Shane had Morgan jail Carol and Carl."

Sasha blinked.

"Excuse me?"

Beth nodded.

"Just to calm them down. Darryl tried to interfere and Shane punched him in the ribs. He's over in the infirmary now."

"Beth! What are you talking about? What are you doing?! Why did you let Shane do that?"

Beth's facial expression turned unpleasant.

"I didn't 'let' him do anything, Sasha. Judith is Shane's daughter. We all have to accept that now. Carol and Carl can't just come to his house and demand to see her."

"Are you listening to yourself? Carl is Judith's brother!"

"Then he should act like it. He should think of Judith. We all should." Beth replied calmly. Sasha's eyes flicked from hers over to Herschel, who was watching them from the porch. Judith had resumed playing with the dollhouse.

Sasha resumed looking at Beth.

"Beth, Darryl **JUST** left my house! How did this fight happen so fast?"

Beth folded her arms.

"I think Shane saw him leave your house and didn't like the looks of it." Beth confided.

"What the hell are you talking about? What is there to 'look at'? Your father was there before Darryl! Nothing was going on!"

"Shane doesn't believe that. He didn't say it but he…I just know him. It was like Darryl was the last straw."

"Beth," Sasha said calmly, "you need to tell Dr. Jenner that Shane should not be up here running anything. And neither should Garth."

"Maybe Beth doesn't agree." Shane said, his voice and presence, seemingly coming out of nowhere. Beth cleared her throat.

"How is Darryl?"

"The hell would I know? He's over in the infirmary." Shane said with disdain. Beth slowly walked off in that direction.

"So are you going to start talking to me again?" Shane asked.

"Yes," Sasha said coolly, "if for no other reason than to ask you to let Carol and Carl out of jail."

"You don't know Carol and Carl like I do. Carol was always emotional and Carl has become a half assed teenager. That wouldn't have happened if Lori had lived."

Sasha did not know what to say to that.

"I didn't know Lori. But I do know Carol and Carl. You can't just shut them away from Judith. This is an adjustment for her too! She doesn't know where Rick or Michonne are. Carl, Carol, Darryl…myself, we're familiar faces. She wouldn't remember Herschel or Beth."

"You know what? I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'm going for a run." he said and started to walk towards the house.

"A run? As in jogging? Where, around the houses or someplace?"

Shane turned to stare at her.

"No. Out there. Morgan let's me borrow his stick. Any walkers come up to me, I take care of them and keep it moving. You should come with me."

"Jogging?" Sasha asked, a brow raised. Jogging was…was…something that people **USED** to do when life was carefree. No one jogged anymore.

Shane smiled at her, something that Sasha realized at that moment, he rarely did. At least in the limited time she had spent with him.

"Yeah, jogging…you know…running?"

"I know what it is." Sasha said, finding herself smiling back at him. "But we all do enough of that just running from walkers."

"I haven't seen too many people in your group run from them. You know how to protect yourselves. Come with me and we can talk about some things. Things we can do together here in Alexandria." he said, before turning to walk towards his house. He climbed up the steps and bent down to converse with Judith, then spoke to Herschel about something.

Sasha watched them for a moment for turning and walking towards the police station. Darry's words from before began to creep around in her mind. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to get to know Shane better. Maybe going for a run with him would…

Would what? Get her down below so she could see Abraham?

No. Nothing like that was going to happen right away. In fact, she had a different idea about that. She was going to do what she did before with Negan. When night came, she was going to break into the house Rosita had formerly lived in, and find out if there was a way down below from there.

* * *

Morgan was sitting at a desk when Sasha walked in. Carol was pacing in her cell. Carl was sitting quietly in his. Sasha slammed the door!

"Morgan! The keys are over there on the wall! Are you seriously going to just let them stay in there?"

Morgan looked up at her.

"What would you have me do, Sasha? Shane and Garth are running things now. Shane wants them in there for 24 hours. I figure it wouldn't kill them." Morgan said in a surly tone. One that set Carol off!

"Oh is that right, Mr. Sheriff? Huh? We have to look out for Rick's daughter! And when he gets back here, he needs to see that Judith is alright!"

Morgan eyed her.

"Do you really think that he'd hurt her? He just wants to get to know his child. And the man is just trying to bring some order to this place."

Carl slowly stood up.

"So you agree with him? You think he should just steal Judith from us and to hell with what we want?" he asked.

"I did not say that." Morgan said, standing up. "Shane is not Negan. He's fair. He just didn't like the way you two just burst into his place like that, demanding things. Shane and Judith need time alone so she can adjust."

Sasha looked him up and down.

"Adjust? To what? Rick, Michonne and Abraham will be back here and things will go back to normal. This isn't permanent."

Morgan now looked her up and down!

"You really believe that? They are going to put Rick, Michonne and Abraham on trial for murder! They are not about to be let go so they can come back here! We can't go down below to see them. I don't like it anymore than any of you, but then again, maybe Rick and Michonne shouldn't have killed because someone told them to."

Sasha walked up to Morgan.

"They ''killed' because they couldn't find me and thought that doing so was the only way. They **KILLED** because there is a whole underground government that has been hiding their knowledge and know-how from us this whole time, when they could've helped us! And Deanna and Negan were part of that! Who the hell are you to be on your damned high horse about killing?! You let them both out of there— **NOW**!" Sasha snapped.

Carol could see that this might turn into something ugly and tried to diffuse the situation.

"Sasha, Morgan's right. Believe it or not. It's just 24 hours. Carl and I will be fine. Won't we, Carl?"

Carl said nothing. He took a seat again but glared at Morgan. Sasha shook her head, turned and walked out of the jail, purposely leaving the door open. She now knew she had no choice but to try things Darryl's way. She'd be nice to Shane to see if they could find out what was going on.

Morgan's words still burned her. He acted as if they were somehow better off being under the thumb of Shane and Garth over Deanna and Negan's. Maybe. But it certainly didn't feel as if they were better off. Not at all.

She returned to her house, slammed the door behind her and ran up the stairs. She went into her bedroom and found something that could pass for jogging gear. There was no more time to waste around here.

* * *

Oddly, or maybe not so, Shane had insisted that they drive to some point, then jog. There were supplies in the car, in case of a medical emergency, and food, in case they became trapped or something.

Sasha had managed to scramble up, ironically, a pair of Nike gray shorts and short sleeved black top that showed her toned midriff. Shane wore a baseball cap and, black shorts and a sleeveless shirt that read Georgia something. It looked faded but Sasha suspected it was a police thing. Meaning Rick at one time might have had a shirt like that as well.

Sasha had never really been in to jogging, so it took her awhile, longer than she expected, to stop being able to keep up with Shane. For someone who had been dead, he was in suspiciously good shape. Maybe that was something else she could find out. What exactly was in this drug that had brought him, Herschel, Beth, Garth, the Governor and others, back to life?

Shane noticed she was falling behind and stopped, turned around and jogged back towards her.

"Are you cramping up?"

"No." Sasha said quietly. "I just need a moment. Why don't you go on ahead? I'll catch up."

"No," Shane said, looking around, "I'd say we went far enough. We can walk back to the truck and you can tell me why you really agreed to come out here with me."

Sasha sighed.

"I have no ulterior motives, okay?"

"Right. Look, I accept the fact that no one is happy about this. And if we're going to rebuild things in this world, we need to be honest about some things. I'll start. I hate Darryl's white trash guts."

"Ouch! He's not trash."

"When I knew him, he was. Him and that goddamned brother of his. Wait until you meet him. You'll love him."

"My understanding from Michonne, is that his brother changed. He might have been able to show us that if the Governor hadn't killed him."

"Yeah well he's backsliding down in rehab, so that part of him, the 'changed' part, isn't showing up in his personality."

Sasha raised a brow.

"You don't hate Darryl because of where he came from. You hate him because of Rick."

Shane didn't say anything to that and Sasha knew she'd struck a nerve. But Shane went on.

"Then we get to Carol. She's different from how I remember her. I don't like her attachment to my daughter. Hers is gone and Judith isn't going to replace Sophia."

"Carol is not looking to make Judith her daughter."

"I hope Michonne isn't hoping to replace her child. Because that's not happening either."

Sasha tilted her head.

"I didn't know Michonne ever had a child. If I didn't know it, then how did you?"

"It's the underground. There's a lot I know. About everybody." Shane said, looking at her meaningfully.

"I have no past."

"No…not one to be ashamed of. Like some people. Like Abraham."

"Is this why you wanted me out here? So you could tell me something lousy about Abraham? Shane…our pasts don't matter anymore! They don't. It took me a long time to realize that. Abraham was part of my finally seeing that."

Shane nodded then gave her a knowing look.

"So Garth's past shouldn't matter then?"

Sasha's expression changed and not for the better!

"Let's just go back to the truck, okay?"

"Oh, so you can't take your own advice that you've served me up with?"

"Shane! He's eaten people! Why anyone would bring someone back to life that **ATE PEOPLE** is too awful and stupid to even understand! When we get back to Alexandria, there could be people missing and eaten! So no, I can't forget Garth's past!"

"Then maybe you can try and show me the same consideration when it comes to Rick and my daughter!"

"That is not even remotely the same thing! Not even close! Rick didn't eat on my boyfriend! And your problem is that you can't forgive Rick for Lori—who was HIS wife in the first place!"

"I wonder if Abraham would like hearing you bring up Bob all the time? You probably think about him about as much as I think about Lori!"

"You shut…" Sasha was about to seethe, when she noticed something.

A truck.

Stopped a few feet from them. They had been so busy arguing that they had not noticed it. It was a black truck with several men in it. Two of them got out with guns.

"Hey." Shane said. He knew who they were. They were from Negan's Savior compound. They were being heavily monitored and of course, didn't know it.

"Hey yourself." the man said in a gruff voice. His hair was long and kind of reddish.

"Can I help you?" Shane asked.

The man burst out laughing, as did several men in the truck.

"Can you 'help' us? Yeah. See we know that you two live in that nice, relaxing gated community. We have a friend…friends that live there that we haven't seen in a while."

"Would one of them be a sonofabitch named 'Negan'?" Shane asked, in a fake, polite tone. That response earned him a gun in the face and Sasha swallowed! Oh God! The Governor and Dr. Jenner had said all along that Negan had some kind of secret network going on, but she had been so preoccupied with other things, that it had been last on her list of things to worry about. Why were these people still running around? Why didn't someone underground do something about them?

At that moment, a swarm of military men hurried out of the woods and shot the two men that Shane and Sasha had been dealing with! The other men in the truck looked shocked shitless, as they were dragged out of the vehicle and off into the woods! Sasha gaped! There had to be some way to get underground from the woods as well! What she wanted to do was follow everyone and see where they were going.

But Shane shook hands with one of them, who jumped in the truck and drove it off. Sasha just stared at Shane in shock. Somehow, this area outside of Alexandria, was being watched as well. So even if she tried to sneak around to find an opening to the underground, they would know. How many people had been eaten by walkers and done nothing to help them or interfere?

"Sasha? What's wrong? Are you alright?" she heard Shane ask. But her mind was swirling with Darryl's words again. It would not be enough now to find a way an entrance below.

Someone would have to take her below. Someone that Darryl was sure, 'liked' her.

"Sasha?" Shane continued to ask, now wondering if maybe she needed a doctor or something? Maybe it was the heat?

Sasha decided that now was the time to get things started. And Abraham would just have to forgive her.

She suddenly wrapped her arms around Shane's neck, pulled his lips to hers and kissed him passionately, willing herself to think of Abraham. She put all the feeling she could into this kiss, caressing Shane with her hands and molding his body to hers. She felt her own senses soar and ended the kiss as soon as she felt his own desire press against her.

"I'm sorry." Sasha said in a small voice. "I don't know what I was thinking. That whole thing was just crazy. If that army had not come along…"

"I would have never let anything happen even if they had not shown up." Shane said in a low voice and tried to recapture her lips with his own but Sasha shied away.

"Let's just head back, okay?" Sasha asked and began to walk back in the direction their truck was. Shane stared after her for a moment, then hurried to catch up. He didn't quite know what to make of that moment that had just occurred between them either. But he did think it was real. And it would become even more real, once Sasha realized what was going on down below with Abraham.

* * *

 **UNDERGROUND-**

Abraham could not believe what he was looking at. He still couldn't.

He, as far as he could tell, had been the only one let out of his cell. He didn't see the Governor wandering around, thank fucking God! But he didn't see Rick or Michonne either. That bothered the fuck out of him.

Then again, he wasn't 'wandering'. He was sitting in a room at the bedside of Rosita Espinosa. She had not been blown to bits in that explosion and had been given Dr. Jenner's drug. The burns were slowly fading but Rosita had a long way to go. And Dr. Jenner felt it was imperative that when she did woke up, she saw a familiar face.

He stood up and stretched, trying not to think about Sasha being above. Being in Alexandria alone with that fucking cannibal and that fuck that betrayed Rick! Rick had to be going apeshit wondering what was going on with Carl and Judith!

But he knew that the others would do what they could to keep things going. To keep Shane and Garth from destroying everything they had built.

He turned when the door opened and Dr. Jenner stepped in. He closed the door behind him and walked over to the still unconscious Rosita. He picked up a clipboard and stared at, then set it down again.

"It's good that you agreed to this, Abraham. You'll be able to go free for doing this. I know that you were nothing but a bystander in Deanna and Negan's murders."

"Cut the ass-wipe flattery. You know that was all the Governor. He had one of our people and we thought she was down here. We didn't have any choice."

"Of course you did. You could've just returned to the surface."

"You had a choice too. You could've just let everyone know what the hell was really going on down here! Do you even understand that you made fucking mistake by bringing the Governor back to life? None of this would be happening now if you had kept him dead like he should have been!"

"Phillip is being dealt with. But Rick and Michonne have proven that there won't be a place in this new world for them."

"Uh, I thought you said there was going to be a trial?"

"There will be. And if they are found innocent, they will be let go. But once we have things back to normal, they won't be able to live around here. We will have separate facilities for violent offenders." Dr. Jenner said casually.

Abraham said nothing more. The fucker was out of his mind. He couldn't see that he'd brought all kind of 'violent offenders' back to life and that hadn't worked out so well. He changed the subject.

"How long until Rosita wakes up?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"Not long. Hopefully a day or two. Just keep doing what you're doing. Talk to her. Offer her some hope." Dr. Jenner advised, before leaving the room again. Abraham sat back down and began doing just that.

"Rosita, honey, I know things weren't good between us before the bombing. But you have to know that thinking you were dead killed me. Because things didn't end right between us. Open those pretty eyes of yours and maybe we can begin all over again. Maybe this time as friends…"

Suddenly, the medical equipment Rosita was hooked up to, began beeping and going batshit crazy! Dr. Jenner and a medical team hurried in and had to resuscitate her! Once they got her stabilized, Dr. Jenner corralled Abraham out into the hallway!

"What happened in there? I was just there!"

"I fucking know you were! I was talking to her, like you said, like you've been saying! I told her when she woke up we could be friends and then this shit happened!"

Dr. Jenner's expression looked grim.

"What?" Abraham asked.

"Words of hope to her, given your past relationship, do not sound like 'we can be friends'. Lie if you must but don't tell her anything that sounds as if you won't be together."

Abraham said nothing as Dr. Jenner went back into Rosita's room. Holy Jesus. In order to get Rosita up and around again, he would have to lie. To Rosita and to Sasha.


	18. Chapter 18

It was the middle of the night, when Sasha got up and peered out of her window. She stared over at the guard tower. Tara was doing a shift up there and Morgan would relieve her in a couple of hours. Sasha's gaze shifted from the tower to the sheriff's station. There was a light on in there. Morgan was probably in there still 'guarding' poor Carol and Carl.

Sasha turned away from the window and walked over to her closet. She put on black jeans and a black t-shirt, then put her hair up in a bun on top of her head. She then turned off the bathroom light and made her way out of the bedroom. Tonight, she was breaking into Shane's house to look for a way down into the underground. She suspected that the way down, was similar as to how it was in Deanna's house. Meaning it was in the basement.

Once downstairs, Sasha refrained from turning on any lights. She eased the front door open, looked around, then stepped out onto the porch. She knew that someone was probably watching and hoped that her clothing and stealth movements hid her comings and goings.

Sasha reached Shane's home rather quickly and she headed to the side of the house where a few basement windows were. She began trying one, then another…then another…but they were all safely locked. Damn!

She walked around the house and tried all the basement windows she could find. All locked. Sasha stood there and tried not to think of her kiss with Shane earlier. Because she now knew that the only way she was getting in this late, is if he invited her in. And if he did that, he'd 'expect' her to stay until morning.

Sasha sighed and began to head back to her own house, when movement from the kitchen, caught her eye. She crept to the back door and peered in through a window…

Shane, Garth and the Governor, were sitting at the kitchen table, looking at some kind map! Why was the Governor loose while Rick, Michonne and Abraham were prisoners down below? No! No and hell no!

Sasha found that the back door was not locked and she just opened it and presented herself to the men…

The Governor coughed and stood up quickly! Garth smiled at her from his seat, while Shane gave her a wary look and slowly stood up.

"Why, Sasha," the Governor purred, "are you unable to sleep?"

Sasha folded her arms.

"I'm going to assume, that Abraham, Rick and Michonne will be returning shortly if **YOU** are here." she said coldly, before focusing on Shane.

"How long have you been hiding him here?" Sasha asked him. But Garth, for some reason, felt the need to answer that.

"Hi, Sasha. You look very pretty tonight. I like your hair."

"Shut up, you!" Sasha snapped. Garth's nice words made this situation all the more insulting! She honestly could not believe that she was standing in a kitchen with at least two men that had caused her, and their group, nothing but pain and destruction.

"I've tried to be nice," Garth responded, "but you don't seem to want to meet me halfway."

Shane stepped in before things got bad. Or in this case, worse. He picked up the maps, rolled them up and handed them to the Governor.

"You need to go back down below."

"Yeah," Sasha said, "and I'm going with him."

The Governor gave her a pointed look.

"No, you're not."

"And how are you going to stop me?" Sasha asked in a challenging tone. "You all are unbelievable. You did what you did to Negan and Deanna so you could take over from Dr. Jenner. But somehow that didn't work out, did it? Now if you really want things to work out, and for me to be 'nice', then you'll let me see Abraham down below!"

Shane started to say something, but the Governor stopped him. He then spoke.

"Sasha, honey, we were just trying to spare you."

Sasha raised a brow.

"Spare me? What are you talking about?" she asked uneasily.

"Okay, that's enough!" Shane snapped at the Governor. "Would you just fucking go already?"

But Garth provided the final insult.

"What Phillip means, is that Abraham is with Rosita down below. We didn't think you'd want to go down there and see him slobbering over her."

Sasha gaped at Garth!

"Dr. Jenner brought Rosita back to life?"

"Well," the Governor drawled, "she wasn't killed by a biter. Her body was pulled from the explosion before it could be discovered. You all just assumed she'd been blown to bits. She's doing nicely down there."

"Yes and Abraham is by her bedside, looking out for her." Garth said in an almost jeering tone. Sasha's response to him was to leap on him! The Governor didn't lift a finger to pull her off of Garth, but Shane dragged her away from him!

"Get the hell out of here!" Shane snapped at Garth. Garth grinned at Sasha, before dusting himself off and walking to the back door. He turned as if he were going to say something else, but the warning look from Shane, made him re-think doing that. He slipped off into the night, closing the door behind him.

Sasha writhed away from Shane and glared at them both.

"You know what? Dr. Jenner is bringing a lot of people back from the dead. But I don't hear a plan to do other things, like grow food and provide clean water that walkers haven't been lounging in. How are people going to make a living?"

The Governor suddenly unrolled the maps and set them on the table.

"These are maps of where people are going to be living around here. Which houses will go to which couples. Families." he said in a tone that sounded rather ominous.

Sasha raised a brow.

"Families? No one has an intact family anymore."

"No," Shane said, "but you see that Rick and Michonne did a pretty good job of putting one together with my daughter."

"Okay…so what? That's rare. I mean you have Rick, Michonne and Carl. Glenn and Maggie are expecting…everyone else here is single. They don't have 'families'. Not really. Abraham and I are just the two of us alone. So where are the single people going to be living?"

The Governor smiled patiently at her before speaking.

"There won't be any 'single' people." he said.

"What do you mean? Of course there will be! They're all over the place!"

"No. There won't be." Shane said meaningfully. Suddenly, Sasha backed back towards the kitchen back door!

"What are you two saying?" she asked uneasily.

Shane folded his arms and spoke.

"Dr. Jenner wants to make sure that people can have families safely. There have been a few miscarriages in other places, that didn't go so well for the mother." he said quietly. Sasha said nothing but she could imagine! If the baby died and then turned…

Sasha cut him off.

"That's all well and good. Maybe. But you still have the problem of people being single. Carol is not hooked up with anyone. And she probably could have a child still. Beth isn't seeing anyone either."

The Governor was tired of fucking around here! He decided to just say it!

"Single people, Sasha, will no longer be single! There will be weddings of course, to make things official. Around here there is shortage of women—to men. So a lottery for which women some of the men would like to procreate with…"

Sasha opened the back door and hurried out! She didn't even bother closing it behind her! It didn't take long for Shane to catch up with her and grab her arm!

"Don't touch me! Was he kidding? Tell me the Governor is kidding?"

"No." Shane said in a low voice. "And I'm going to need for you to keep your voice down."

"The hell I will! I'm going to go and tell Darryl! You people are crazy! Then once I tell Darryl, I'm telling Carol and anyone else around here that I have to about this sick crap you've got in mind!"

"What's sick about it, Sasha? Come on! Tell me what's sick about it?"

"Okay, let's just say I wasn't with Abraham. I would just have to get with someone, under your rules and have a baby?"

"Look, I know it sounds crazy, but it **IS** up to every living person here to help out. Now I have Judith but I'm willing to do my part as well."

"I just bet!"

"Alright, I'll tell you what: I'll take you down below so that Dr. Jenner can explain this to you. We can't have you running around here talking like this without knowing the full explanation."

Sasha folded her arms and stared at him.

"What?" Shane asked.

"What are Dr. Jenner's plans for **ME**? I mean does he want Abraham and myself to get married and start a family in this new world?"

Shane looked shifty. He looked away.

"Okay…what is that about? You know something."

Shane looked back at her.

"Certain women are going to have the right to pick who they want to be with. Michonne and Maggie already have men that they have been seriously involved with. So Michonne will have a baby or babies with Rick. Maggie will have babies with Glenn."

"You mean women that are already in relationships?"

"Yes." he answered.

"So I'm in that category too, right?"

"No." Shane said firmly. "You relationship with Abraham was accessed to be too half assed for the two of you to be married. So he'll be put with someone else and you'll…well…you'll be bid on. You know…because you're so cute…"

Sasha backed away from him.

She then turned and ran! She ran towards the infirmary to wake Darryl up, but she felt strong, hard arms grab her from behind and drag her backwards! Sasha began to scream but Shane clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her back into his house and slammed the door! The Governor was still there and eyed the scene.

"What happened?" he asked tersely.

"I had to tell her everything." Shane said, letting a ticked off Sasha go.

"You **HAD** to?" the Governor asked, then shook his head. It was done, no going back now. He faced Sasha.

"So Mr. Walsh told you that you have several bidders that want to be your husband. Even more than Beth because most men don't want women that have been brought back from the dead."

"But forget the fact that I might not want one that had been either!" Sasha snapped. "I'm not doing this and you all had better stay away from me! You let me out of here- **NOW**!"

"I thought you wanted to see Abraham?" Shane asked tiredly.

Sasha forced herself to stay calm. At this point, she didn't know if she could trust him to actually keep his word. But she sensed she had little choice now. That and if there was a glimmer of hope that Shane would take her down below, then she needed make sure that Abraham knew what was being planned! Had Beth and Herschel knew about this? Beth agreed to have someone's baby that had bid on her? Or maybe no one had 'bid' on her yet? Oh Jesus…

"I do." Sasha said firmly.

"Then let's go." Shane said, reaching for her hand. He looked at the Governor.

"Are you coming?" he asked him.

"I'll watch your daughter while you're gone." the Governor said off handedly.

"No!" Sasha snapped. "You are not leaving Judith with him!"

Shane gave the Governor a disdainful glance.

"No, we're not. We're taking Judith down below with us."

* * *

Sasha discovered she would have been very wrong if she had broken in to this house and made her way to the basement. The way down to the underground, was in a kitchen, back hall closet, that wasn't a closet at all! It had been empty the whole time. Rosita and Abraham, when they lived here, probably hadn't thought anything of it, if they ever looked inside.

She held Judith's hand and tried not to think about Rosita's being alive and what that could mean. She told herself it didn't mean anything. She and Abraham had been together before the explosion, Rosita had been forced to deal with it then, and she would still have to.

The Governor stayed behind in Shane's house, which Sasha didn't think was a very good idea, but could do little about it. Sasha took in how little Judith said to Shane, when he tried to explain where they were going. She felt the child squeeze her hand and she knew that Judith was confused and scared by all of this. Suddenly Rick. Michonne and Carl were no longer here. She didn't even have the comfort of seeing Carol, Darryl, Maggie or Glenn…familiar faces she had known all of her young life.

Sasha then eyed Shane and she could tell that he was quietly frustrated by how little Judith responded to him. She felt for him, but Judith was Rick's child. Maybe she would be allowed to see Rick and Michonne below.

The device, elevator, whatever one called the secret contraption they were in, stopped and a door opened to the familiar sight that Sasha had seen before. A room full of security cameras and control panels. Two men were sitting there and Dr. Jenner opened a door and walked in. He smiled down at Judith.

"You must be Judith! Well it is nice to finally meet you. Your father brought you down here to meet us all, hey?"

Judith hid behind Sasha. Sasha bent down to talk to her.

"Honey, I'm going to be right with you the whole time. Don't be scared, okay?"

Judith nodded and reached up to clutch Sasha's hand again. Dr. Jenner noticed Shane wince. He cleared his throat.

"Sasha, why don't you let Shane take Judith to see Rick and Michonne?" Dr. Jenner suggested and ignored the death glare he received from Shane. Sasha noticed it and spoke.

"Dr. Jenner, why don't you take Judith to them. I'll stay here and talk to Shane." she said. Dr. Jenner reached for Judith's hand and she walked out of the room with him. Once they were gone, Sasha moved away from the guys in security and Shane followed.

"You want to tell me why you did that?" he asked in a pissed off tone.

"You're going to have to deal with Rick and Michonne if you want any of this to work."

"They will badmouth me, Sasha!" Shane hissed. "She already cries at night…" he trailed off. Sasha realized that he had been having more difficulty with Judith than he had let on. Sasha rubbed his arm, just as Abraham entered the room. The security guys saw him and got up and left! Shane noticed it but Sasha was too busy running into Abraham's arms to pay any attention to it!

"Oh my God! Abraham, I am so sorry! It's because of me that you're trapped down here!" Sasha cried, holding on to him for dear life. Abraham glared at Shane while he held Sasha, before gently setting her away from him.

"You're alright, darlin'! Everything is alright!" he said softly before pulled Sasha to his side and facing Shane.

"Was this your bright idea to bring her down here?" Abraham asked. Sasha looked at him with surprise.

"I wanted to be down here. I wanted to make sure you were alright. How are Rick and Michonne?"

Abraham turned his eyes away from Shane, who was staring at him in a way he didn't appreciate. His expression was one of knowing. He knew what was going on with him down here. And if Sasha knew everything, she wouldn't have thrown herself into his arms.

"I haven't seen them. Honey, we need to talk."

Sasha nodded and Abraham and her walked some distance away. Shane watched them with a clenched jaw. He couldn't worry about Sasha Williams at the moment. He couldn't worry about her clear disgust for the plans the underground had for her and other single women in this region.

He also could not worry about the heartbreak, that would eventually cause her to come around to their way of thinking. Because Dr. Jenner did not just bring Rosita Espinosa back to life.

He brought the baby she had made with Abraham, six weeks before he had dumped her for Sasha, as well.


	19. Chapter 19

The room Abraham lead her too looked like a hospital waiting room. The only thing missing was a television. Abraham walked over to a counter and poured a cup of coffee for Sasha, but she shook her head. She had never liked coffee. Abraham poured a cup for himself and gulped it down as if it were a stiff drink. Sasha could see that there was something off. Something wrong. He had not wanted her down here. It was probably because of Rosita.

"I know about Rosita." Sasha said, sitting down in one of cushy chairs. "And I understand that you needed to be with her. This is a scary time for her. For anyone waking up down here."

Abraham nodded and set down his coffee cup. He then walked over to her and sat down in a chair opposite of her.

"Who told you about Rosita being alive?" he asked, his eyes searching hers.

"The Governor. And Gareth, unfortunately. It doesn't matter. I understand that she had to be frightened after being hurt like that. But…."

"But what?" Abraham asked.

Sasha leaned forward and grabbed his hands.

"I think we should leave here. Just like you suggested. Let's just take our stuff and go."

"Darlin', you know we can't do that while our friends are in trouble here."

Sasha let of his hands and stood up.

"There is a lot you don't know! Shane and the Governor told me that there will be no more single people around here. That they want families and people married and having babies. I am being 'bid' on as we speak, so I can be a wife to someone! We have to get out of here."

Abraham slowly stood up. There was no beating around the bush on this or putting it off. He held out his right hand and Sasha noticed a ring on it.

A wedding ring. Had he always worn that? Sasha knew he had had a wife and kids before the world went to hell and back.

"Why are you showing me that?" Sasha half whispered.

"Because…because…" Abraham said, trying to get the words out of his now dry throat.

"Because, what? Is the ring new? What are you telling me?" Sasha asked. But somehow, she knew.

"I married Rosita a few hours ago. She's pregnant. We were lucky the baby survived the explosion. I have to do right by her. You understand that, don't you?"

Sasha just stared at him, not knowing which was worse: the fact that he had given her that answer, after she had just told him that she was being bid on, or the fact that he had given her that answer—period.

"Sasha? Darlin'? Answer me!"

Sasha thought about throwing some coffee on him, but thought better of it. There had been a time when all she wanted was to come down here and be with him. But now, she couldn't stand to be down here one more moment.

Abraham gritted his teeth and forced his stomach not to recoil in regret and shame. He could not tell Sasha that he was doing this to save her and God knows who else! That he was 'going along to get along'. He could not tell her that Rosita had beamed with joy at the idea of their having a baby in a safe place. She had smiled all during their marriage ceremony.

Her happiness was short lived when her morning sickness kicked in, and she vomited up ashes. The ashes of her own dead body. She had then told Abraham to get out and never come back.

But he was not leaving. Not without her, Rick or Michonne. This bringing people back from the dead was fucked up! And Rosita was never really hungry. Not for food and certainly not for flesh. There was some fucked up shit going on down here and Sasha needed to leave as soon as possible!

There was a part of him that told himself that Sasha Williams was no wilting flower. That she could handle this. Then there was the part of him that told himself that **HE** could not handle her being down here.

He needed for her to not come back down here. Not until he could get back safely with the others.

Meanwhile, Dr. Jenner was watching Beth on one of the screens. Shane watched as well. Beth was vomiting up ashes…

"You can't fix that?" Shane asked with irritation. "I don't want Sasha seeing me do that shit!"

Dr. Jenner turned away from the screen and gave Shane his full attention.

"Agent Walsh, we are **THIS** close to bringing back the civilization we once knew. My team is working on that little snafu…and the lack of hunger."

"Look," Shane said urgently, "if Rosita Espinosa can't eat, what does that mean for the baby?"

"You know what it means." Dr. Jenner said quietly. "She probably won't carry it to full term. And when she loses it, it will revert back to it's former state—that being an undead corpse."

Shane shook his head but Dr. Jenner kept talking.

"That is why, for the time being, women that are actually alive, are our best chance here of populating the world again."

Shane still said nothing, so Dr. Jenner ventured into uncomfortable territory.

"I know you don't like what's happening to Beth and Herschel. They think the ashes are just a side effect. At least Beth isn't pregnant. And that brings me to Miss Williams."

"What about her?" Shane asked in a testy manner.

"I'm not stupid, Agent Walsh. There is some kind of competition going on between yourself and Agent Blake."

"Don't forget about Gareth." Shane noted wryly.

"Yes well he might be hard to place with anyone. That is anyone that knows his true past. The point is, Miss Williams doesn't seem very receptive to either of you. I'm not going to force any women to be with men that they don't like at all. If Agent Blake or yourself, don't change Miss Williams distaste for you, then she'll be offered to someone else." Dr. Jenner said solemnly.

Shane folded his arms.

"How the **HELL** can you compare me to that prick, Blake? Seriously? Sasha never has a kind word or glance for him."

"But she does for you?"

"I think she's willing to give me a chance, yes."

Dr. Jenner didn't look so sure of that, but they were interrupted by Sasha's sudden arrival in the room. She didn't look sad, or happy, either. Dr. Jenner cleared his throat.

"Well. Did you enjoy your time with Abraham?" he asked in a polite tone. Sasha walked up to him.

"I want to see Rick and Michonne. It's time for Judith to go back home." Sasha said coldly. Shane cleared his throat!

"I agree. About Judith. But Rick and Michonne are prisoners. Judith should've never been allowed near them anyway." he said, probing Sasha's eyes with his own.

Dr. Jenner interrupted the stare down.

"Why don't we have Judith spend the night down here? We can fix up a room or her that she will like."

"No." Shane said. "I need time with her away from Rick and Michonne."

Ordinarily, Sasha would've wanted Judith to be near Rick and Michonne, but there was something off about everything going on down here now. It felt like this was the last place Judith needed to be!

"I agree with Shane," Sasha said, "so we should get her and head back up."

Shane nodded and left the room to get his daughter and Dr. Jenner's tone turned hard.

"I know that you were told about what is going to happen."

"You mean what you 'think' is going to happen." Sasha said as her eyes left his and focused on a screen that Beth was on. Darryl was in a bathroom with her, holding her hair as she vomited! Suddenly he let go of her hair and stared down into the toilet looking…well…not disgusted, but shocked! Dr. Jenner noticed what she was watching and turned off the screen.

"What's wrong with Beth?" Sasha asked suspiciously.

"I have no idea. I'm sure it's just a flu bug or something. I'll have her come down here so I can give her a proper examination." he replied. "So, how did things of with Abraham? I trust that the two of you came to some kind of understanding about Rosita?"

Sasha did not answer him. About that.

"How about you turn on that screen again and show me that Beth is really alright?" she asked, just as Shane returned. He was carrying a now squirming Judith. He let her go and she ran to Sasha! Sasha bent down to her level.

"It's alright. Did you see your daddy and Michonne?"

"Why are they here? Why can't I stay with them? I don't want to go back!" she cried.

"Honey, listen to me: I don't want go back either but we have to. You can stay with me. We'll go see your Uncle Darryl and everything will be fine, okay?"

Judith hugged her and Sasha began to get angry. Not for being hugged. But she could feel Judith's fear. She was being pulled in two different directions and she didn't understand why. Sasha let go of her and rose to full height, taking her hand. She ignored the look of death Shane was giving her. She knew he hadn't liked her referring to Darryl as Judith's 'uncle'.

Dr. Jenner looked at Shane.

"Send Beth down here when you get back. She's under the weather."

Shane nodded and together, Sasha, Judith and himself headed back up to Alexandria, where things would grow even more complicated.

* * *

Once they were back in Shane's house, he tried to take Judith's hand but she shied away from him. Sasha pulled Shane away from her and into the living room.

"Let her stay with me tonight."

"No.

"Shane, you can't rush this. Forcing her to be here when she doesn't understand the 'why', isn't going to help you get to know her any better."

"Has Rick ever shown her a picture of Lorie? I'd bet the answer to that is 'no'. You know what I think? I think I need to take Judith from here. We can't have any kind of future if she thinks she's going to still be with Rick and Michonne."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, Sasha, I'm not kidding. Now since Judith and you are buddies, maybe you wouldn't mind putting her back in bed? I need to get Beth down below."

"What's wrong with her? Darryl looked pretty upset that she was sick."

"Darryl will be fine. " Shane said in a tight voice.

"I don't know, Shane, I just saw Dr. Jenner watching Beth throw up! Darryl was holding her hair. He looked worried. Maybe he could go down with her…"

Suddenly, Shane's door slammed open and Darryl appeared! Judith was still in the back hallway and she looked frightened at the tense scene. Shane walked up to him.

"Are you crazy? Coming up into my house like this? Scaring my little girl?"

Darryl looked around him over at Judith and held out his hand to her. Judith ran to him and Shane began to lose it! Sasha got between them!

"Alright, stop! Darryl, take her out of here while I talk to Shane!" Sasha yelled, knowing that she could not hold Shane back, but hoping that she had SOME influence enough over him to get him to stay put. Darryl picked up Judith and left with her.

Once the door closed, Sasha turned to Shane.

"I will find out what's going on. Just take Beth to Dr. Jenner. I'm sure her being sick is what made Darryl act like that. Just get Beth." Sasha said and turned to leave.

But Shane grabbed her arm.

"What happened between us earlier…when we were jogging, was any of that real?"

Sasha turned back to him.

"Yes," she lied, "I just don't know where we can go from there."

"You don't know? The Governor, Gareth, myself and a few other men you probably wouldn't like, all want to be your 'husband'. Judith trusts you and I think we have something that we can build on. Spend the night with me and I can end this bidding war that's starting over you." Shane told her, his grip tightening on her arm.

 _Good God! Sasha thought._ First she comes over here to find the Governor running loose, then she learns the news that she is being 'bid' on, add on Rosita's being alive, Abraham's marrying her to give the child they are expecting a name and now this…

"I'll think about it." Sasha said, pulling her arm from his grip. She then walked out of the house and hurried over towards her own. She knew Darryl had taken Judith to the only camera free home in Alexandria. She hurried up the porch steps and into the house, slamming the door!

She didn't see Judith. Darryl was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Sasha made her way over to him and sat down.

"Judith's upstairs?"

Darryl nodded and raised his head.

"What's going on? What's wrong with Beth?" Sasha asked.

Darryl looked her in the eye.

"She's throwing up ash, Sasha. She's throwing up ashes. What's wrong with her is that she's dead and she shouldn't be here. That's what's wrong with her!" he snapped and stood up. He walked over to the fireplace.

Sasha's mouth dropped open and she slowly stood up as well.

"Wh…what? What do you mean ash?"

"What I said, Sasha. She's puking up ash. Not regular barf like a human being or even a goddamned dog would spit up! What's in her stomach is ash! She's dead and that means that this goddamned doctor below has pieced together dead people that can't eat or God knows what else!"

It was quiet and Darryl turned from the fireplace to look at her.

"What? What is it?"

"Rosita is alive. She's alive down below and pregnant. Abraham felt the 'need' to marry her. But…if Beth can't eat and is throwing up ash, is Rosita really carrying a baby anymore? Oh God." Sasha said, turning away from Darryl. But he moved towards her and turned her around.

"You went down below to see Abraham and he told you he was married?"

"Yeah. I don't quite know how to feel about it. There hasn't been time. Darryl, all women that have never been dead, are being put up for 'bid'. That means Carol, Denise, Tara…"

"What?!"

"Yeah and the Governor is running loose around here too! I'm surprised you haven't seen him. Anyway, women like Michonne and Maggie are fine because they're in believable relationships. Apparently my relationship with Abraham was deemed to be crap. Then again, I don't actually have him anymore anyway. You know, I was thinking maybe we should take Judith and leave here. We can get Carol and the others to come with us. I don't know how or where we'd go since this underground is everywhere. What do you think? We can meet up with Rick and Michonne later? They'd be on their own getting out of there but…"

Darryl suddenly took advantage of her parted lips, to thrust his tongue between her teeth and taste her mouth as thoroughly as he found he wanted to taste her body. He didn't know where the smoldering flame of desire that Sasha had aroused in him, had come from, but suddenly he wanted Sasha Williams. Suddenly he wanted and needed her so much that it hurt.

Sasha was not confused by Darryl's hungry mouth or the fact that she was responding to him. She wasn't thinking about anything in that moment, as they hurriedly shed their clothes and fell to the floor. Sasha's blood soared through her veins as Darryl Dixon plunged into her deeply, while whispering loving words of passion that she had never heard from any man.

They made slow, passionate love until Darryl lay back exhausted. He soon fell asleep.

As Darryl slept, Sasha watched the slow, even rise and fall of his chest. In the sparse light, his face appeared strong and angular, even in sleep. Reaching out her hand, Sasha touched it, her mind now racing with the thoughts that had been empty from her head during their lovemaking. She did not feel sleepy, but it was only minutes later that she was curled peacefully against Darryl, completely forgetting that Shane Walsh expected her in his bed that evening.


	20. Chapter 20

Carol was the first to notice that something was going on between Darryl and Sasha. And she didn't quite know what to think about it.

Carol and Carl had been released from the jail by Morgan, per the Governor's orders. That was another thing. The Governor being above ground. If Morgan thought anything was crazy about that, he did not comment. But it made them both wonder if Rick, Michonne and Abraham were back in Alexandria as well?

They did not voice these questions in front of Morgan, who they both thought that should have been doing something more than babysitting the two of them in jail. But once they left the structure, Carl spoke first.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"I think it's entirely possible that the Governor was the only one let go." she said quietly, just as she looked over at Sasha's house. Sasha and Judith were coming out of her house. Sasha turned back to say something to someone inside, before closing the door behind her. Carol then watched as Sasha and Judith headed over to the house that Shane now lived in.

"Did you see that?" Carol asked and Carl nodded.

"Shane let Sasha spend some time with Judith." he noted.

"Not only that but Abraham is back. Sasha said something to him before closing her door. Rick and Michonne could be back too." Carol assumed.

"I'll check our house." Carl said and ran towards the home he lived in with them. Carol hurried over to Sasha's house. She wanted to hear from Abraham just what the hell was going on down below! The Governor had actually been by the jail the other night and said some odd things, that didn't bode well for any of them.

Well, actually, it didn't sound like it would be good for women around here.

Carol didn't even bother to knock as she opened the door, then slammed it behind her!

"Abraham! Abraham, where are you? What's going on down below?" she called out, just as Darryl walked out of the kitchen, shirtless and wiping his hands on a dish rag.

"Hey." he said quietly, looking at her as if he had never seen her before.

"Uh, hey yourself. Uh…what's going on? Why are you here? I thought you were in the infirmary?"

"I couldn't stay around there." he said and headed back into the kitchen. Carol looked around the front room, before following him into the kitchen.

"So you're feeling better? After what Shane did to you?"

"Shane wouldn't have been able to do jack shit, if he wasn't undead. I left the infirmary and spent some time with Beth. I watched her not eat and throw up ashes." he said matter-of-factly.

"Ashes? What do you mean?"

"Like the ashes you get when someone is cremated." Darryl said and flipped a pancake. Carol blinked. She had just noticed that he was cooking.

"That looks good."

"Pull up a chair. Where's Carl?"

Carol slowly sat down, feeling unsettled by how at home Darryl seemed in Sasha's kitchen. Sasha and Abraham's kitchen. But she forced those thoughts to the back of her mind and answered him.

"I thought you were Abraham. Carl went back to his house to see if Rick and Michonne were back. We saw the Governor."

"Yeah, that sonofabitch." Darryl groused and placed three pancakes on a plate. "Gareth is the one that really needs watching."

"Yeah." Carol said as her eyes slid down his shirtless form. "So why was Judith with the two of you?"

Darryl stirred some batter.

"Shane took Sasha and Judith down below. Judith spent time with Rick and Michonne. Sasha spent time with Abraham."

"Oh. So they're still alive?"

Darryl stopped stirring and gave Carol his full attention.

"Yeah. But I don't know what our next move should be. Rosita has been brought back to life and she probably isn't going to do any better than Beth is."

"Rosita was brought back to life? So Abraham is down there helping to take care of her?"

"Sasha said Abraham married her."

"Married her?! Why?"

"She's having a baby. An undead person is having a baby." Darryl said, now rubbing a hand over his face. Carol stood up.

"Okay. We'll deal with all of that later. Did Sasha say anything about a new world or a new society? The Governor came to see Carl and I the other night and he made it sound as if women around here were going to be matched up with men! Single women! Now I'm the only one around here that isn't in a relationship…"

"Neither is Sasha. And they want women that can have babies. That means Tara and Denise will be broken up, probably."

"Are you kidding?! Okay well, I'm not going for it. I'm not. I won't do it."

"Sasha feels the same way. Problem is this is the government we're talking about. A new government with cameras everywhere. I don't see where we'd run. Neither does Sasha." Darryl told her.

Carol eyed him.

"Okay, but you definitely have an idea on what we can do, right? I can tell by looking at you." she said. Darryl nodded.

"I think we need to convince this Dr. Jenner and whoever else, that Sasha and you are in real relationships."

Carol nodded.

"I agree. So how do we help Sasha? I mean they know Abraham married Rosita so they consider her 'single'."

Darryl eyed her.

"Well why don't we worry about you first. You've been seeing Tobin, right? For some reason that relationship doesn't look real to Dr. Jenner. That's why you're being singled out." he told her.

Carol folded her arms. This conversation was not quite going in the direction she had hoped. She wasn't with Tobin anymore, for her own reasons. Maybe that wasn't obvious to everyone, but somehow she always thought Darryl knew.

He knew. He had just forgotten. Because he was preoccupied with someone else. And Carol could not make herself suggest that Darryl help **HER** out by pretending that **THEY** were a couple.

"Well I'll figure something out myself." Carol said coolly. "What's our next move? I'm not a fan of sitting around here and waiting to be offered up as a bride."

"Our next step is to get Rick, Michonne and Abraham, back up here." Darryl replied.

"What about Rosita?" Carol asked. Darryl shook his head.

"She's gone. Hell, Shane is gone, really. I'd like to think Gareth isn't a threat either, but for all we know he still has a taste for flesh."

Carol nodded briefly but found she could not help but be nosy…

"So you stayed here last night to make sure Judith was alright?"

Darryl shrugged.

"The bullshit is over. Nothing's going to work out for Shane or any other of Jenner's 'experiments', because they's not truly alive. Not like they should be. So there's no use in Judith living with him."

"Okay but I just saw Sasha take Judith over there?"

"She just wants to keep the peace. But Shane needs to accept the idea that he's no damned good for Judith or anybody else around here." Darryl groused, then turned to go back to making pancakes. Carol wanted to ask him outright about Sasha, but decided against it. She was being stupid. Sasha had zero interest in Darryl and Darryl cared for Beth, no matter how 'Un-Beth' she was now.

"I'm going to go fill Tara and Denise in on some things." Carol said. Darryl looked over at her.

"You sure? I have a plate for you right here."

"No. Let Sasha have it." she said and turned to walk out of the house. Once she was on the porch, Carol took three deep breaths. What was happening here? Half of her friends had either disappeared or had willingly went down to this underground government. And people that were dead before were no longer dead. Throw in the fact that Darryl had probably started something with Sasha and she had no idea how to feel about it! How would Beth feel about it? Because despite all of this undead and 'barfing up ashes' talk, Beth, Herschel, Shane, The Governor and Gareth, looked pretty damned alive to her!

* * *

Shane smiled as Sasha and Judith entered his house. He was sitting on the couch, reading some magazine that was probably from five years ago. Shane stood up and tossed the magazine down. Sasha could see that it was an old issue of Martha Stewart Living. She knew damned well he wasn't really reading that!

"There's my little girl! Did you like your sleepover with Sasha?"

Judith nodded but looked up at Sasha. Sasha decided she would have to stay over here awhile, just so Judith would feel comfortable about this whole situation.

"I was thinking of fixing us some breakfast," Sasha offered, now watching Shane closely, "what do you have in the fridge?"

"Plenty. Knock yourself out." Shane said casually and tried to not show his hurt when Judith insisted on following Sasha into the kitchen, instead of hanging out in the living room with him. He knew this was a lot happening at once for Judith. But he was determined to make some kind of headway with her. And it was occurring to him with each day, that Sasha could be the bridge that brings them together.

"So, have you seen Phillip this morning?" Shane called out. Sasha opened up his fridge and saw there was indeed food in there, but not a lot had been eaten. She suspected that Shane was only feeding Judith and eating nothing himself.

"Who?" she answered, spying some bacon and pulling it out.

"That's the Governor's first name. You never knew that?"

Sasha closed the refrigerator door.

"Maybe at first. I forgot. I haven't seen him." Sasha said, refraining from adding that she didn't really care.

"Dr. Jenner is looking for him. He was thinking that maybe Carol would be a good match for him." Shane said. Sasha set down the bacon and told Judith she would be right back. She then joined Shane in the living room.

"I don't agree. With any of this. Look, Darryl told me that he watched Beth throw up ashes. He said neither she or Herschel eat. if I fix breakfast for the three of us, are you going to eat too? Will you be **ABLE** to eat?"

"What does that have to do with Carol being matched up with the Governor?" Shane countered.

"I guess I have my answer, don't I?"

"How about we talk about something else? Like the fact that I waited for you last night." Shane said, his tone softening.

Sasha kept her facial expression neutral, as she thought about how to answer him. Did she tell him the truth? That she had been with someone else? Or did she tell him that in her mind, Shane and all the others that had been brought back from the dead, were one step away from becoming walkers again?

She settled for something in between.

"Shane, it's not that I wouldn't like to give you a chance. I like you despite all that Dr. Jenner and you have done to disrupt our lives. But, I don't see any point in starting something with you, when you won't be around much longer."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Shane snapped and noticed that Judith was looking at him. He calmed down a bit.

"Look, I'm sorry for yelling but you really think I'm dying?"

"I think something is wrong. And I don't think Dr. Jenner can fix it."

Shane folded his arms and stared at her hard.

"Is this really about Abraham? You're thinking that Rosita and the baby won't live and then the two of you can be together? Rosita, and her baby with Abraham, have just as much of a chance of living along life, as I do. And I do intend to live. And all of us will be eating soon. My point is this: Abraham is someone's husband and is going to be a father. You need to forget him."

The front door suddenly opened and Darryl walked in! He closed the door quietly, then leaned against it.

"Funny you're saying that. Rick was Lori's husband and that didn't stop you." Darryl said before looking at Sasha.

"Sasha. It's time for breakfast. Get Judith so we can go."

Shane eyed Darryl.

"What the hell are you talking about? Sasha and Judith are staying right here. Go find a squirrel, beaver or whatever the hell Merle and you were used to eating for 'breakfast' before I ever laid eyes on you, and get the fuck up out of here." Shane suggested coolly.

"And you can go back down below and tell Jenner that Sasha isn't up for bid anymore. She's with me now."

Shane smirked at Darryl, then looked at Sasha, who looked…guilty.

"What the hell is he talking about?" Shane asked her.

Sasha rubbed the back of her neck and just decided not to lie anymore.

"What Darryl said. Why don't you let us take Judith back with us? She can get a real breakfast…"

"So you're telling me what? That you slept with this piece of trash?" Shane asked.

"No, I'm telling you." Darryl answered before suddenly flinging a big hunting knife across the room and into Shane's forehead! He collapsed to the ground and soon turned to ash! Judith gaped from the kitchen, but didn't say too much about it. Sasha gasped, then looked at Darryl.

"There are cameras in here! Someone saw this happen!"

"Good. We can get this Dr. Jenner the fuck up here. This underground crap doesn't work for me anymore." he said and walked into the kitchen, picking up Judith and walking back into the living room. He stopped as he watched Sasha stare at the pile of ashes on the ground.

"Do you care? That he's gone?" he asked quietly. Sasha turned from the pile and stared at Darryl and Judith.

"I'm sorry for him. He had high hopes for being alive again. But we have to keep this from happening to Beth and Herschel."

"They're not meant to be here anymore than he was. Come on, we have to get ready for whatever is coming from underground." Darryl said and held out his other free hand to Sasha. Sasha smiled softly at him and walked over to him to grasp his hand, before leaving the house.

Meanwhile, down below, Dr. Jenner, the Governor and…Abraham, watched Shane's murder from down below on a screen in the security room. Dr. Jenner kept his expression neutral but the Governor and Abraham were outraged, for similar reasons.

Basically, they both wanted Sasha. Abraham more so than the Governor, since he now knew that Rosita and his unborn child, didn't stand a chance in hell if they were just ashes underneath.

The Governor had never liked the idea of bringing Shane Walsh into this sector. But he has assumed he'd make problems for Rick and Michonne, not him. Darryl Dixon was a problem he had not anticipated or counted on.

Dr. Jenner had come to a decision. That being that Alexandria was not worth their time or efforts anymore. He turned to face Phillip Blake and Abraham Ford.

"I think you should return above ground, Sergeant Ford. I will have Herschel, Beth and Gareth come back down here. They clearly aren't fully recovered." he said solemnly.

"I feel fine." the Governor said quietly. Dr. Jenner did not respond to that. He looked at Abraham.

"I have a surgical team ready to operate on your wife, Sergeant. We will only have minutes to take the child, then make sure that he or she does not turn. I will let you know how they are progressing."

"And Rosita?" Abraham asked, his throat dry.

"Will stay until I can figure out the last peace to this puzzle. We cannot fully recover as a society if half of the people cannot eat or carry children to full term."

Abraham glared at Dr. Jenner!

"You sonofabiitch! Did it ever occur to you that what you're doing down here is fucked up? You can't 'fix' this horse shit because it isn't fixable! Their bodies are really dead, no matter how you try to pretty them up! And you're goddamned right I'm going back up above! And I'm taking Rick and Michonne with me as well!"

"Of course." Dr. Jenner said calmly. The Governor avoided eyed contact with Jenner. And that was because he knew what was going to happen now. It had been done before.

"Yes, well your friends Mr. and Mrs. Rhee have returned above as well. Just to say their goodbyes. They feel they have a future down here."

"And that's their choice." Abraham said firmly. He couldn't begin to form the words, about how much he didn't appreciate any of this! The heartbreak of losing Sasha, which was only soothed by the fact that he thought he was going to have another child. But Jenner didn't know what the fuck he was doing down here and he should have known that.

They all should have.

Sasha knew. She had always known. And now when he returned, he was going to have to confront her, and someone he had considered a friend, over whatever the hell it was they were trying to start. Abraham wasn't going for any of it! He was going to return to Alexandria and convince Sasha Williams that what they had was real and that it was **NOT** over.

And as for Darryl, he'd better find someone or something else to be with and **QUICK**! Abraham didn't care if it was another woman, man or goat! But Sasha was off limits.

Abraham walked out of the room. He needed to see Rosita one last time and explain how things were now, though he knew she knew. She was angry again. And for a brief moment down here, she had been glowing with happiness to be not only alive again, but carrying their child.

Dr. Jenner and the Governor did not speak again until Abraham had left. Once the door closed, the Governor faced Jenner.

"Sasha can be saved. Don't do this." the Governor said.

Dr. Jenner folded his arms.

"Phillip, we've been through this before. And to be honest, I should have shut down Alexandria the moment Sasha Williams made her way down here. Deanna and Negan were careless."

"I think this is salvageable."

"I don't. Sasha Williams would not be willing to marry you and what I'm trying to do is not about 'forcing' people to do anything. If the people of Alexandria do not want to be part of this, then there is nothing we can do about it but move on."

"Okay. We seal all the entry points and move on." the Governor said, but Dr. Jenner shook his head.

"No. We release the toxin into the air in Alexandria that will turn everyone into the undead. We can't have these people warning other communities about what's going on here. I need time to perfect what's happened to you and all the others."

"Dr. Jenner…." the Governor began, but Dr. Jenner cut him off.

"I don't like it either, Phillip. The most I can suggest to you, is that if you want to make things work with Sasha Williams, then you stay behind and die with her and the others. Otherwise…" he trailed off.

The Governor said nothing. He was disappointed but he knew Jenner was right. And when Abraham, Rick and Michonne returned above ground, a death clock would be set on Alexandria.


	21. Chapter 21

Rick and Michonne glanced uneasily at one another, as they arrived back in Alexandria with Abraham, who was clearly very angry. He had told them three things:

One, the people that were supposedly alive, weren't really. They couldn't eat and some were vomiting up ash.

Two, Shane was dead.

Three, Herschel, Beth and Gareth were going back down below, to see if Dr. Jenner could do anything about what was happening to them.

And yet, from Abraham's near 'frothing at the mouth' demeanor, they knew something else was going on. And if they had to guess, it had to do with Sasha.

They had returned to Alexandria in Shane's house and were hurrying after Abraham to catch up! He was clearly in a hurry to confront something or someone. He stopped suddenly by a pile of ash, then looked back at Rick and Michonne.

"That's that Shane fuck!" he informed them, before hurrying out of the house. Rick and Michonne stared at the ash. Rick longer than Michonne. Michonne walked over to the window and watched Abraham running towards Sasha's house in full speed mode! She turned to Rick, who looked more confused than anything else.

"We need to be careful." Michonne said. Rick nodded.

"I'm going to assume that once one of the 'once dead', dies, they turn to this." Rick said, picking up a knife. He looked at Michonne.

"This is Darryl's." he told her.

"Darryl killed Shane? Why?"

"You'd have to have known Shane. It could've been anything. Not that I'm sorry." Rick said, looking the knife over.

"Rick, why did they let us go when one of their people was killed? Why isn't someone dragging Darryl down below like they did us?"

"I don't know." he said, now looking up and around for cameras. "We need to have a meeting. Of everyone. I'm thinking we need to leave here."

Michonne bit her lip.

"Where would we go? This new government is probably everywhere."

"I don't know, Michonne, but we can't stay here knowing they're underground watching us. We need to tell other people. That and I'm not living here with that sonofabitch, Gareth." Rick said firmly.

"Agreed. But before we call a meeting, we need to confront Gareth, Herschel and Beth. They need to go back down below and get checked out." Michonne said. Rick kicked at Shane's ashes, before following Michonne out of the house. The first person they saw was Glenn.

"What the hell is going on up here?! Beth is throwing up something…I don't know what it is! And what was that pile of dirt in Rosita's living room?"

"That dirt was Shane. And if you look carefully, that's what Beth is throwing up. You need to prepare Maggie for some hard truths about her sister and father." Rick said grimly. Michonne touched Glenn's arm.

"Where is Gareth?"

"No one has seen him." he said. "Believe me, I asked around. There are too many people here that don't grasp what kind of a threat he is."

Michonne looked away from him to see Abraham come running out of Sasha's house! She couldn't tell if that meant he'd found her or what! She saw him go into the Sheriff's station…

Morgan wasn't doing much of anything when Abraham barreled into the office! Morgan's eyes widened as he stood up.

"Abraham? You're free?"

"Yeah and so are Rick and Michonne! Where the hell are Sasha and Darryl?"

"Uh, they dropped Judith off with Carol and went scavenging." he said, eyeing him.

"All the vehicles are still here." Abraham noted.

"Well they left on his motorcycle. Sasha was on the back…"

"I can damned well guess where the fuck she was on the motorcycle, Morgan! You didn't think it was odd that they'd 'scavenge' on a fucking motorcycle? How would they carry shit back on that?"

"Look," Morgan said in a low voice, "I can see you're upset. Just wait for them to return and talk to them…"

Abraham was about to say something else, and not very nice, when Carol walked in and closed the door.

"I saw you were over here. Rick wants to have a meeting over at his house. Everyone needs to be there."

"Yeah and that would include Darryl and Sasha!" he snapped, before grabbing Carol's arm and hustling her out of the station. Abraham slammed the door behind him and ignored Morgan's stare at them from the window.

"What do you know about what's going on between them?"

"I don't know anything, Abraham. And if there is, it's none of my business."

"The hell it isn't! You two have been tight since day one! Everyone here thinks you two have something going on and have just been discreet about it! So don't give me that bullshit!"

"You listen to me, Abraham Ford: IF there is something going on between Darryl and Sasha, there is nothing to be done about it. You are married to Rosita now and from what I hear, expecting a child."

"None of that is taking place now! And if you think I would've given up Sasha for any other reason other than that, then you're head isn't screwed on straight!"

"Oh it's on straighter than it's ever been. Something has went wrong with Rosita and now you've decided that Sasha is worth fighting for."

Abraham eyed her.

"I'm not wrong here. You do have feelings for Darryl. How come you're covering for them?"

Carol paused for a long moment before answering him.

"I'm being a grown-up. I'm not going to obsess over what I can't control. Darryl and I are friends. I'm not going to lie, I was thrown by what's starting to happen between the two of them but we're not guaranteed tomorrow in the world we live in now. If Sasha has moved on, then you need to too."

"I didn't ask you for any fucking advice! Especially bad advice!" he yelled and stomped down the steps. Morgan opened the door to the station and Carol glanced back at him and shrugged.

* * *

Sasha had never ridden on the back of a motorcycle before, but she could feel how free and relaxed Darryl seemed just as she held on to him. Darryl had told some of the others that they were scavenging for other vehicles and that Sasha would bring it back if they found one. No one except Carol looked skeptical and it was Carol's face that Sasha could not get out of her mind. Had there been something between Darryl and Carol? It never quite seemed like it but then again, she could honestly say that she had never spent anytime thinking about it. There were too many other things occupying her mind on a daily basis.

She returned her attention to where they were going, when Darry turned down a road and drove past a very cute looking house with a white picket fence. There was a flower garden there as well. For a brief second, Sasha thought she caught sight of someone who had to have been the owner, in full walker form, banging and growling on a window. She looked away and began watching where Darryl was going, because he definitely had a destination in mind. This had not been a chance scavenging trip for some vehicle.

Sasha's questions were answered, when Darryl pulled up to a stronghold that clearly used to be a school or something. The guards seemed to know Darryl and Sasha could see a the equivalent of a square or former playground, and many people either gardening or play acting. Darryl stopped the motorcycle in front of a very tall woman that was dressed like a knight!

"Uh, where are we?" Sasha whispered, as they both climbed off of the motorcycle. Darryl parked it, walked over to her and slipped an arm around her trim waist, before presenting her before the woman.

"Hey, Diane. I need to speak to the King."

"He's been waiting for you. Jerry will escort you in." she said, nodding to Sasha. Sasha nodded back, as if she knew what was going on and walked towards a building entrance of sorts. A large Asian man, with a sword, smiled at Darryl.

"Hey, Darryl. His Majesty is waiting."

Darryl nodded back and Sasha told herself that Darryl knew what he was doing here. She took in the surroundings and found herself feeling hopeful that there were people out here, like them, that seemed to be thriving in their surroundings. How had Darryl met these people and why hadn't he said anything to anyone else about them? The Underground had to be watching all of this, right? Or maybe Rick and Michonne knew about this place and just kept it to themselves?

They entered an auditorium and saw a black man with gray dreads, sitting on stage on a throne. And next to him was a stuffed tiger…

It then growled, proving it was not stuffed! Sasha, against her better judgment, moved with Darryl, trusting him. He didn't seem thrown by the tiger, but he sensed she was, and his hold tightened on her middle as they stopped before Ezekiel.

"Darryl Dixon. Who have you brought before me?" he asked, smiling down at Sasha. Sasha smiled back but her eyes flicked to the tiger. He yawned and put his head down on the floor.

"This is Sasha Williams. I want her to stay here with you until some things are settled over at Alexandria." Darryl said pointedly.

Sasha looked at Darryl, then at Ezekiel, in shock!

"Darryl, can we talk about this? In private?"

Ezekiel answered.

"There is no need, Lady Sasha. Darryl is a friend of the Kingdom. As is Lady Carol? How is she?" he asked.

Sasha raised a brow but Darryl was looking at Ezekiel.

"She's good. Or as good as you can be these days." he answered.

"Has something changed with regards to the Underground?"

"Yes. They let us know that they plan on marrying people up just so they can make them have children. You haven't seen any Undergrounders so far?" Darryl asked.

"No. We have taken in no one new. And no one has reappeared that has perished. We are still looking for entry points."

"I could help with that." Sasha said. "I know what to look for. And the cameras. We're being watched."

"I took care of those. But I might have missed a few." Darryl admitted.

"Is Lady Carol in the same danger as Lady Sasha?"

"She could be. But something else happened that concerns Sasha and myself. I just want to make sure she's safe." Darryl said gruffly. Sasha smiled over at him but said nothing.

"Lady Sasha, I get the feeling that this is all new to you. I take it you did not know of our existence before today?" Ezekiel asked.

"No. I did not. But what I see here looks impressive. I'd like to help you in anyway that I can." Sasha said and Ezekiel nodded to that. The tiger suddenly lifted his head and peered at her, as if he had suddenly noticed a stranger within his midst.

"Who is that?" Sasha asked in a light voice.

"Who is who?" Darryl responded.

"The tiger. Is there a zoo around here or something?"

King Ezekiel smiled patiently at her, as if her question was stupid but he would tolerate it.

"This is Shiva. Great Protector of The Kingdom."

Sasha said nothing to that. At least she had learned that this place was called 'The Kingdom'. Sasha motioned with her head to Darryl and they moved up the stairs a bit to talk.

"Darryl, you can't make a decision like this without talking to me first. I don't want to be shunted off someplace else. They will know or find out where I am."

"We're buying time. I'm headed back to Alexandria. I expect I'll end up where Rick, Michonne and Abraham are. We need help. We can't have this Underground snatching our people down below and deciding things like who's going to have babies and shit. You know I'm right."

"Of course you're right, but I don't get why I have to stay here! I'll be found and probably taken below. I think we should stick together. I've seen this place that Carol and you know about, now we can head back home."

Darryl walked away from her and moved to stand at the edge of the stage in front of Ezekiel.

"I need you to promise to look out for her. I'll be back in a couple of days." he said.

"We have her room prepared. Never fear. Lady Sasha will be looked after." Ezekiel promised. Darryl nodded, turned and walked back up to Sasha, reaching for her hand and pulled her out of the auditorium. Once outside, Diane escorted them to another building, where Sasha's room would be. Clearly it used to be an office. Sasha suspected it was the principal's, at some point and time.

Diane left them alone to get settled in and Sasha confronted Darryl.

"Do you want to tell me what this is really all about?"

Darryl peered out of the windows, then looked back at Sasha.

"My brother snuck up from the Underground to warn me."

"What? When was this?"

"When you dropped Judith off with Carol. He came out from under that footbridge."

"What did he say?"

"He knows he's fucked." Darryl said tiredly, sitting down on the bed. "He came up to warn me. He heard talk that they plan on giving up on Alexandria."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"I don't know. He didn't either. He had been locked up and made to go through 'behavior training'. He pretended to go along with it, passed and was given a 'sector' to be in charge of. But he's run off."

"Oh my God! They have to be looking for him?"

"I guess." Darryl said tiredly. "But I'm more concerned on what they mean by 'giving up on us'. Sasha, someone should've come after us on the road and they didn't. Why do you think that is?"

"What are you thinking?" Sasha asked quietly.

"Nothing good for us. I'm going back. Just to see if I'm right."

"Okay, well that's all the more reason for me to go with you and watch your back." she insisted. Darryl's answer to that was to press his lips to hers, just to taste her. That kiss turned into deep kisses and Sasha suddenly felt her clothes slip off of her and puddle to the ground…

Sasha could not remember anything more than just being lost in the rhythmic pulse of their copulation. Darryl's length felt as hard as actual wood and it pulsed inside of her, as she clung to him and responded to each of his titanic like thrusts. Her world was turning to fire and the nerve endings of her skin felt as if they were humming. Then everything began to spin…

When Sasha awoke, Darryl was gone and she knew that he was leaving it in her hands to prepare the Kingdom for some kind of attack from the Underground. She sat up in her new bed, naked and looked over at a dresser, then a closet. She hoped changes of clothing that actually fit, were going to be provided for her. Because the first thing she intended to do, was call a meeting with King Ezekiel and his trusted advisors. It was time to prepare some kind of defense, in case Darryl was right.

* * *

"You're thinking they let you go because they plan on doing something to us?" Maggie asked in disbelief.

"We don't know that for sure." Michonne said cautiously, "but they had no intention of allowing us to come back up here after what happened to Deanna and Negan."

"You mean when you fucking killed them, right?" Ron asked. Jessie swatted his shoulder!

"Okay, Ron, yeah, when we killed them. This Underground brings people back to life that can't eat. And eventually it catches up with them." Rick said.

"Rick," Jessie said, "Beth and Herschel are just a little sick. It's not like they're falling apart, literally. And if Dr. Jenner started this than he could fix them. I just don't see the need to panic."

Carol didn't like the sound of any of this at all. Many of these people had lived under Deanna and Negan. Some of them had actually went down below and had not been forced to come back up. She agreed with Rick and Michonne. It felt shady.

Abraham was drumming his hands on a table. Loudly. But other than that, he was not adding to the conversation.

"Maybe they just realized that how they were acting was wrong?" Morgan suggested. "Maybe they realized that working with us, would serve them better. I don't think any of this means we need to go to war against them."

"I didn't say that," Rick said in an irritated manner, "but I also don't think we're going to be allowed to live as before, knowing what we know."

Maggie stood up.

"I have my father and sister back. I'll take them however I can get them. They're breathing and they are talking. They care. My father is looking forward to being a grandfather. I am not going to sit here and talk about them behind their backs like this. They belong in this community."

"No one is saying that they don't!" Tara stressed. "But you saw what happened to Shane. I mean he's dust. He isn't even a skeleton. What happens if Dr. Jenner can't turn this around?"

"He will." Glenn said, squeezing Maggie's hand. It was shortly after he said those words, that the sound of a motorcycle roaring in, got all of their attention. Abraham leaped up, ran to the door and hurried down the porch steps! Darryl had just gotten off of his motorcycle when he saw Abraham walking towards him. Abraham was above ground? Darryl looked around him and saw Rick and Michonne, followed by Carol, hurrying his way as well.

"Abraham? What's happening?" Darryl asked but Abraham looked around him.

"Where's Sasha?" was Abraham's reply.

"Safe."

"What the fuck does that mean? She's safe here too! Where is she?!"

Darryl looked around Abraham at Rick.

"What's going on?"

"We're not sure. We were suddenly let go and I don't think it's a good thing." Rick told him.

"It's not," Darryl confided, "Merle got in contact with me. He's escaped. He told me they have plans to give up on us. He doesn't know what that means but the fact that all of you are free, isn't good."

Rick and Michonne looked at each other uneasily. Carol was eyeing Abraham, who looked like he was seconds from grabbing Darryl by the throat! She cleared her throat.

"Where's Sasha? Was there some kind of trouble?"

"Sasha is someplace safe."

Abraham's eyes widened!

"What the fuck are you talking about? She's safe here!"

Michonne suddenly began talking!

"We need to leave here! If Merle thought something was off and **RAN** , then we need to leave! Anyone that wants to stay here fine, we can't force it but we need to leave." Michonne said urgently.

Suddenly, screams could be heard! They all looked over at the infirmary and saw Gareth and Denise come running out! The infirmary itself was engulfed in some kind of pink smoke! They started to run towards them but the group suddenly stopped short.

Gareth was changing into a walker as he ran towards them! Abraham took out his gun and shot him in the forehead! Denise looked horrified as she began to change and she coughed and dropped to the ground!

" **DAMNIT**!" Rick yelled and shot Denise in the head. Tara came running out screaming and Michonne held her back!

"Tara, listen to me! That was a warning to us! We don't know if that…that…whatever chemical was used, will come out of all of our houses or how infectious it is! Stay away from her!" Michonne ordered her gently, as Tara collapsed into her arms. Abraham could barely breathe, he was so shocked. He turned to look back at Darryl.

"The hell you didn't know this was going to happen! You tell me right now where Sasha is or by God…"

But Darryl kept his cool. Sort of.

"You fucking think I would let this happen to anyone living here? Even that cannibal piece of shit down there? I didn't know. Merle didn't know but you see he got the fuck out of Dodge!"

"I don't know that he went anywhere! I don't know that you even saw him!" Abraham yelled before he did indeed grab Darryl by the throat! They began tussling and Rick and Morgan jumped on them to break them apart!

"We don't have time for this shit!" Rick yelled. "We need to get out of here before we end up like Denise and Gareth!"

Carol stared at Gareth.

"Why did he turn? Why didn't he just turn into ash?" she asked.

"I don't know and I don't want to know!" Rick snapped. "Everybody needs to get their stuff and get to a vehicle."

Michonne let go of Tara and looked at him.

"I think we ought to try and reason with Dr. Jenner. Ask him what he will do to let us just go away and pretend we don't know about any of this!" she suggested.

Meanwhile, back at the Kingdom, Sasha was about to leave her room, when a noise from underneath her bed made her pause. She closed the door and moved the bed. There was some kind of panel under there! Before she could do anything, it opened and The Governor emerged!

"You need to come with me if you want your friends to live. Now!" he told her.


	22. Chapter 22

Sasha was not really surprised when she ended up before Dr. Jenner again. He was watching a large viewing screen and Sasha could see everyone packing up to leave!

"What's going on?" Sasha asked him, then looked at the Governor. Dr. Jenner tore his eyes off of the screen and looked at her.

"Sasha, clearly the residents of Alexandria, including yourself, are not open to rebuilding society. You just want to live out in the wild like animals. That's fine. But this experiment that we are attempting, has to be done quietly. We can't have anyone blabbing about it until it is perfected."

Sasha looked from Dr. Jenner and over at The Governor.

"What does that mean? Why are Rick and the others leaving?"

"Because they can't stay in Alexandria any longer not with what they know. And it won't matter where they go." Dr. Jenner said ominously.

"What does that mean?!" Sasha snapped.

"What it means," The Governor said, "is the good doctor here has emitted the toxin that caused all of this, into the infirmary in Alexandria. Two of your people turned and were put down by the others."

Sasha's mouth fell open and looked at Dr. Jenner.

"Who? Who did you kill?"

"Gareth is gone and so is your doctor." he said calmly.

"You killed Denise?! Our only doctor?"

Dr. Jenner pursed his lips for a moment before speaking.

"Miss Williams, I don't know what yourself or Mr. Dixon were planning, by running off to The Kingdom and running your mouths about this whole thing to them, but just know that you are only still standing here because Mr. Blake here, really thinks that you can be of some use."

Sasha folded her arms.

"Is this about this 'baby crap'? Where you put perfectly healthy women with men you've brought back from the dead?" she asked. She then looked at The Governor.

"Am I here because you think that we'll be parents? Because that's not happening. So spray me with poison now!"

The Governor smiled.

"Now, now, Sasha. There's no need to be like that. We were thinking that Abraham and yourself could act as representatives. Explain that we don't really want to hurt anyone…"

"Or Darryl and I could. Not that Darryl would go along with any of this."

Dr. Jenner raised a brow.

"I just assumed that Mr. Dixon and yourself were a rebound relationship? On your part? Sergeant Ford will not be marrying Miss Espinosa."

The Governor tuned the conversation out, for he had his own plans for Sasha. Whether she agreed to be with Abraham Ford or Darryl Dixon, made him little never mind. He would kill whomever she was chose to be with and then woo her into his bed. He firmly believed that the only reason Sasha was so against giving him any kind of a chance, was because she believed he was half dead. Dr. Jenner would have to take care of that and soon.

Meanwhile, Jessie, who was not leaving Alexandria with her children and was pissed off that Rick and Michonne seemed to be close from their 'prison experience', approached Abraham, who was loading up the RV.

"Sasha is down below with Dr. Jenner and Mr. Blake. They're waiting for you." Jessie said quietly. Abraham looked at her, then around at everyone. No one was taking notice of their conversation. He eyed Darryl, who was holding Judith as Michonne hurried to and fro from the house Rick had shared with Jessie.

"You've been back down below?"

Jessie looked around carefully before answering.

"Yeah, Abraham. I think it's ridiculous to run. Where would go? And what is being asked of us isn't that horrible. Somehow we have to put civilization back right. Children need to be created so that can happen."

"Is that what's going on down there? Jenner and The Governor are trying to convince Sasha to get pregnant?"

"By you." Jessie stressed. "We should get down there."

Abraham nodded, pleased that wherever Darryl thought he had hidden Sasha, had been discovered. He coolly followed Jessie into the house that used to be Shane's, and Rosita's before him. Darryl noticed this and wondered where the hell those two were going together?

They had to be headed underground. But why?

Michonne came out of the house again and he nodded over towards Abraham and Jessie.

"Jessie is staying, for whatever reason," Michonne noted, "but where is Abraham going with her?"

"There's a door down below in that house. What happened with Abraham when you were down there?" Darryl asked.

"Rick and I never saw him. He was with Rosita the whole time." Michonne admitted.

"Is it possible he could've been turned?" Darryl asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Is it possible that he believes in what Jenner is doing down there? Like Jessie does?"

"I doubt after what Abraham saw happen to Denise and Gareth, that he is on their side." Michonne said, but she did stare after them. "You know, I'll let Rick know what's going on. He needs to make his peace with Jessie anyway."

* * *

Sasha was not so surprised to see Abraham appear. Jessie, however, was a surprise.

"What's going on?" Sasha asked coolly.

"Mrs. Anderson is still of child bearing age and will cooperate with helping with our procreation project." Dr. Jenner said. The Governor looked surprised by this, Sasha noticed.

Abraham gave Jessie a brief look of surprise.

"Rick agreed to this?"

"Do you see Rick and I together anymore?" Jessie asked sarcastically. "And I am thinking of my boys, and what kind of world I want them to live in."

Abraham accepted her explanation before focusing on Sasha, who looked away. The Governor peered at Jessie, before staring down Jenner.

"Who is Mrs. Anderson going to 'procreate' with?"

Dr. Jenner stared back at him.

"Why you, of course. You have no objections to her, do you?" he asked in a fake sounding voice, as if he had no clue that who The Governor really wanted to be with was Sasha.

"No. Of course not." The Governor said, smiling at Jessie. And he was not lying. After all, he could satisfy himself, for now, with the idea of fucking someone Rick was involved with. He probably wouldn't be too pleased to find out about it. That was a good thing.

"Good. Then I want to get started right away. Sasha, Abraham, you are here to witness the act."

"Uh," Sasha protested, shaking her head, "I don't think that's necessary."

"Yeah," Abraham coughed, "I mean I get what they're about to do. This is happening now?"

Dr. Jenner took out a clipboard and walked up to them.

"I will refrain from poisoning all of you, wherever you go, if the both of you agree to be representatives for our project. If Mrs. Anderson is able to carry a baby by Mr. Blake to term and that said child is healthy, I want you both to convince the others above, that are not in committed relationships, to please consider joining our experiment like Mrs. Anderson has."

"I don't want to watch The Governor and Jessie!" Sasha snapped.

"You need to witness that nothing happens to the completely undead person, when the act takes place. " Dr. Jenner said. Abraham looked at Sasha.

"I don't suppose it would hurt." he said, trying to nudge her.

"It'll hurt my eyes!" she snapped.

"Sasha, darlin', I just saw what their poison did to Gareth and Denise. They turned quicker than a rabbit takes a shit! Let's just get through this for the good of our people, okay?"

Sasha reluctantly nodded and they both followed Dr. Jenner out of the room. They hung back aways as Dr. Jenner turned a corner.

"I can't believe this! They have a toxin that turns people? The government was responsible for this the whole time? They can just gas us?" Sasha asked Abraham in disbelief.

"Yes," he said in a low tone, "but we've got other problems here. We need to get you pregnant—pronto! Otherwise they'll have you doing The Governor and God knows who else! Jenner needs to see that we're committed to each other."

Sasha stopped walking.

"Abraham…what happened with Rosita changed things."

"I know about Darryl and I accept the fact that was some rebound shit! HE'S acting as if the two of you are married or something! Where did he stash you away? How did you get down here again?" Abraham asked.

"I need for you to listen to me: I don't know about us anymore. I don't know what I have with Darryl but I want to see where it goes."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, 'why'?"

Abraham sighed.

"I understand that I hurt you. I do. But I couldn't just abandon Rosita and our child."

"No, you couldn't. You shouldn't be abandoning them now. She's still down here, right? You should go and see her."

"So you're going to push me away? Is that it?"

Sasha touched his arm.

"I just think it wasn't our time, that's all. Just be here for Rosita. Hopefully Dr. Jenner can do something to correct all of this."

"What's happening isn't natural, Sasha. I wanted to accept that Rosita was alive and carrying my child and that I would get to be a father again. But no one has any business tinkering with the dead! And this shit Jenner wants to do is only going to make it worse. I don't get what Jessie was thinking."

"She's trying to get back at Rick. Look, we'd better get going." Sasha said resignedly. Abraham reached for her hand and squeezed it.

"Let's just make sure Jessie get's through this, okay?"

Sasha nodded and they walked around the corner and found Dr. Jenner standing in front of a viewing window. He was writing on his clipboard.

"Good of you two to finally join us. Phillip and Jessie have already begun. We can see them but they cannot see us." he said conversationally.

Yes, The Governor and Jessie Anderson, had already begun to have sex— **AGAINST THE GLASS WINDOW!** Sasha backed back and stared at Jessie's face, which was mashed against her side of the glass, and contorted in passion…horror…Sasha didn't know what. Her lips were moving in a way that reminded Sasha of a fish gasping for air! The Governor was pumping away fiercely behind her, moaning with delight while fondling her breasts.

"I've seen enough." Sasha began, but then her eye caught something. Something in Jessie's eyes.

"Holy fuck!" Abraham hissed.

As soon as The Governor released his seed within her, Jessie's face contorted and she turned, becoming a walker within seconds! The Governor pushed her away and Dr. Jenner pulled a gun out of nowhere, opened up the door to the room and shot her in the forehead! Sasha turned and hurried out of the room! She began running towards the security office. She was getting back on that elevator and getting the hell out of here!

Abraham caught up with her and grabbed her arm!

"What are you doing?! We have to…"

"Have to what, Abraham? Huh? What? That would've happened to me if I had let Shane Walsh…he wanted to spend the night with me! Thank God for Darryl!"

"Is that right?" Abraham snapped, letting for of her arm. "So how long has this shit been going on anyway?"

"Leave me alone! Let's just get out of here and leave with everyone else. Or you can stay down here and offer some comfort to Rosita! But I just the nastiest shit I have seen in a long while! And I'm not sticking around here any longer!" Sasha yelled.

Dr. Jenner and a now fully dressed Governor, entered the room. Abraham and Sasha turned to face them.

"I think we can agree that that was some nasty bullshit," Abraham said, "so the deal you want to make is over."

"It was unfortunate. But that is how research works. Look, we need someone else for a test case. Find us someone or you all will die, wherever you go. I can release the toxin anywhere." Dr. Jenner said, before turning to walk off. The Governor spoke.

"He's working on it. The next person might not die. I'm glad it wasn't you this time, Sasha."

Sasha rolled her eyes and walked towards the elevator. Abraham gave The Governor a warning look, before getting in beside her. The doors closed and once the elevator began to rise, only then did Sasha relax.

"What are we going to do?" she asked quietly.

"We can't tell the others."

"Are you kidding me?! We have to prepare some kind of defense or something! Maybe if we found gas masks…"

"I think we need to find someone to get ready to fuck The Governor or whomever, otherwise we die!" Abraham argued. "No one is going to agree to that if they know they'll turn as soon as…we can't tell them that. And yet we have to stay alive."

Sasha shook her head.

"No. I'm not lying about it. Everyone needs to leave here and the Underground needs to look for another community to trick."

Abraham folded his arms.

"Do you think they'd be so desperate to use the people here if they hadn't tried that? I think they've done this many times before. And when the people didn't agree, they were gassed. I think we ought to offer someone up just to keep them off of us."

The doors opened and Sasha hurried out of the back hall closet and through the house. She stopped short when she saw Shane's pile of ash, still in the living room. That allowed Abraham to catch up to her.

"Damnit, Sasha! We have to decide what we're going to do here! You can't go out there and tell them this shit!"

"What are we supposed to tell Jessie's sons? Huh?" Sasha countered, just as the door opened and Darryl, Michonne and Rick walked in! Darryl looked shocked shitless to see Sasha and he went to her.

"What happened? Why aren't you where I left you?"

"They know. The Governor came and took me down below. We have real problems and I think we need to pack even faster and get out of here!" Sasha exclaimed.

"I disagree. Dr. Jenner has made us an offer that's fair—sort of." Abraham said.

"Define 'sort of'?" Rick asked.

"Fucked up but it will keep us alive." Abraham said, his eyes on Darryl and Sasha. Sasha shook her head.

"Jessie is dead! And we need to have a meeting because the only way we're staying alive, is if we can somehow make ourselves invisible." Sasha said, her tone dead serious.


	23. Chapter 23

The meeting took place in Sasha's home, since they were all pretty sure that there were no cameras inside. But it was a restless and testy gathering…

One, because Beth and Herschel were present. There were things they wanted to say before going back underground.

Two, because Abraham kept staring at Darryl with murder in his eyes.

Three and lastly, the all around panic Sasha and Abraham's news evoked in the people of Alexandria.

"We don't know that gas masks won't work." Carol said. "There is an army supply store near The Kingdom. We can go there and see if it has a masks."

"How come neither Darryl or you ever said anything about this 'Kingdom'?" Rick asked.

"Because Ezekiel is half crazy. There's a tiger there and they all kind of live in fantasy land. I'm not sure, as allies, how much help they'd be." was Carol's response.

Darryl disagreed.

"I wouldn't go that far. They can fight but Zeke is also determined to keep people's spirits up. I think that's what all the King Arthur shit is all about." he said. But he was not happy that Ezekiel had let The Governor leave with Sasha. And he didn't much care whether Ezekiel had not known about the underground entry point or not.

"Okay," Michonne said, "but back to the mask thing: no one has been in the infirmary since it was gassed. We don't know if it will ever be safe to go back in there and there are medical supplies in there that we need."

Carl spoke up.

"We also need to be thinking about Ron and Sam. I lied to them and said that their mother wanted them to wait at their house until she came back. Well she's not coming back and someone needs to tell them that." he said firmly.

Abraham took over.

"We're in a shit load of trouble here. I don't need to point out that whatever that gas is, probably can get through a gas mask. Jenner seems to think of everything. But let's say the masks do help. We'd have to carry the damned things with us 24/7. We'd have no idea when we'd be gassed and we have no idea how long it takes for the shit to leave the air. I think we ought to make a run for it. There has to be someplace that isn't covered by cameras."

"Yes, there is." Beth said. "The bottom of the ocean."

Maggie smiled but was not happy. More than a few people looked at Beth like she was crazy. Herschel took over.

"That was my Bethie making a joke. I know this isn't a joking time. I know everyone's scared. But I like Dr. Jenner. I think he really has our best interests at heart and he's just disappointed in our reaction. He thought we'd want to help rebuild society."

"Herschel," Sasha said tiredly, "we want you back. Both Beth and you, but we want you well too. Dr. Jenner didn't finish what he started."

"No he didn't." Beth said. "But that was because of you."

Darryl gave Beth a look but Sasha's eyes met Beth's dead on.

"You're not saying anything I haven't heard before, Beth. I should have never went snooping below. But our people had been thrown out of here by Negan. I had to do something and I certainly never expected to find what I did."

"No one is blaming you, Sasha." Maggie said, giving her sister a look of disapproval. "We just need to find a way out of this."

"Maybe there isn't a way out." Glenn said. "It looks as if everyone that is in a committed relationship is safe. If you're not, then you should leave Alexandria or do what Jenner and The Governor want."

Darryl looked at Glenn with disgust!

"Nice coming from you. You're pretty safe now, aren't you?"

"So are you now, Darryl." Beth said sadly. "You could have given Shane a chance. He really wanted to make amends."

"He didn't act like it." was all Darryl said to that.

Rick stood up and looked around the room.

"I'm going to tell Ron and Sam that their mother is dead. Then all of us that don't want to be enslaved here, are leaving. Anyone that wants to stay, is welcome to do do."

"Rick. you won't have to leave," Herschel insisted, "I'll talk to Dr. Jenner. We'll work out something. Beth and I are headed back down below."

"I'm going with them." Maggie said. Glenn nodded.

"Me too. Maybe we can work out some kind of compromise."

"What would that be?" Abraham asked sarcastically, 'that one of us comes down every other month to fuck an undead person that looks alive?"

Beth began to cry and Sasha gave Abraham a dirty look! But Abraham wasn't sorry.

"The time for bullshit is over, people. We could be gassed right now or when we get outside or who knows where. I don't think there's any talking that's going to get Jenner to change his mind."

Morgan stood up.

"I can buy us some time." he said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Rick asked.

"I'm going down with Herschel, Beth, Maggie and Glenn. I will offer myself up for the experiments to buy you all some time." Morgan said quietly. Many in the room gasped! Michonne turned away. Morgan was crazy and had always had a death wish. Carol was not surprised by his offer either but Rick was going to lose it!

"No and hell no! No one here is 'offering themselves up'! There's a way out of this! We just have to find it!"

Darryl stood up.

"We need to warn The Kingdom of what's going on. And anyone else we can find."

"Not before we let Morgan make his deal!" Abraham huffed. Sasha gaped at him!

"Abraham!"

"I'm sorry, but it sounds like a damned good idea to me! And hell, Jenner isn't going to make anyone do shit until he's tinkered with the cure a bit more. Who's to say that Morgan would end up like Jessie? Maybe he'll be fine!"

Morgan ignored Abraham and looked at Darryl.

"He's right. Wait until I make the deal. Otherwise you and these people at the Kingdom will be no safer than we are now."

Rick ran a hand through his hair.

"Are you determined to do this?" he asked Morgan. Morgan nodded.

"I am."

"Okay, well if Jenner agrees to it then we're leaving." Rick said and walked out of Sasha's house. Michonne hurried after him, knowing he was angry with Morgan. The meeting slowly broke up until finally it was just Sasha, Abraham and Darryl.

"Abraham," Sasha said gently, "we discussed this. You need to leave."

"Why? There are plenty of other rooms…"

"Are you really going to be this much of an asswipe?!" Darryl suddenly yelled. "Get out of here! You don't live here anymore!"

Sasha turned to Darryl.

"Let me have a moment with Abraham." she said softly. Darryl gave her an unsure look but she nodded and he walked out of the house. Abraham walked to the door he had left through and kicked at it, before turning back to Sasha!

"What are you doing to us? You know why I had to stay below with Rosita. Don't keep punishing me!"

"Abraham, I explained this underground: it just happened and I don't want to go back to what we had before. I'm with someone else now."

Abraham leaned against the door.

"You can't see that he loves Carol?"

"Darryl does not love Carol. Darryl doesn't even love me. We don't know what we feel, we just want the chance to see where this goes."

"Well Carol loves him. She doesn't say it but you can see it. And so does Beth. Maybe Darryl needs to go below and be with her until she gets well. Or doesn't."

"I don't see you going to be by Rosita's side," Sasha said wryly, "now I want you to get your stuff out of here…"

"I'm not going any fucking where! You can go to his goddamned house if you want to shack up with him!"

"Hey!" Sasha snapped. "This is **MY** house that you came to live in! You lived in what was Shane's house when you were with Rosita! You go back over **THERE**!"

Abraham just stared at her.

"What? Go!" Sasha yelled.

"Darlin'…look, we all know what Darryl was before the world went to shit. Him and his brother Merle. I've known people like the Dixon brothers. Sasha, you don't think it's funny that suddenly he's showing interest in you?"

"Don't, Abraham." Sasha said quietly. But she knew where he was going with this…

"Do you really think he would've looked your way if Beth was at herself? If she was truly alive?"

"I don't know. Would you be back up here if Rosita and your child were truly alive?" Sasha countered. Abraham walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders!

"Sasha, he's looking around for someone because he doesn't want to be forced to fuck someone below! And you're it! And if I had been here he would've never been able to pull what he did on you! But you can damned well bet that if he had his pick of women around here…"

Sasha pulled out of his grasp and began screaming at him!

" **SHUT UP, ABRAHAM AND GET OUT OF HERE! GET OUT! GET OUT**!"

Darryl suddenly burst back inside the house, follow by Carol and Tara!

"What are you doing?!" Darryl yelled and grabbed Abraham. Abraham sucker punched Darryl in the ribs knowing they were still sore from his fight with Shane! Carol and Tara made an attempt to grab Abraham but he shook them off. Rick and Morgan ran inside and restrained him!

"We don't have time for this!" Rick yelled.

Sasha walked up to Abraham.

"No we don't. Get out of here and don't come back." she whispered. Abraham pointed at Darryl.

"I'm leaving my clothes here. This shit isn't going to last. First blonde or brunette that you can fuck, Dixon, and you'll drop Sasha like she was yesterday's…"

Darryl held his ribs but uprighted himself.

"Get the fuck out of here. And when I'm recovered, you can best believe there'll be a round two."

"Do the honorable thing and go below to help with experiments, Darryl! Stop using Sasha!" Abraham yelled as Rick and Morgan dragged him out. Tara sighed and followed after them and Sasha ran upstairs to wash her face. Tears were threatening to pour out. How Abraham could say something so hateful…he really wanted to ruin this for her, didn't he?

She stared at her reflection in the mirror, telling herself that there was no truth to it at all. Meanwhile, Darryl kicked a wooden table, collapsing it! Carol folded her arms.

"Rick's right. We don't have time for this."

"Tell Abraham that!" Darryl snapped.

"You listen to me: the game has changed and Morgan is going to give us a chance to get away and think of a way to outsmart Jenner. So if you are just with Sasha to keep her from having to go below, you don't have to anymore. Abraham is back."

Darryl eyed Carol.

"You actually think I would do that to someone? Especially Sasha?"

"Well I don't understand…"

"None of this if for you to understand! The only people that need to 'understand' are Sasha and me! Get out!"

Carol shook her head and walked out of the house. Darryl made his way to the door and locked it. He then slowly took off his vest and collapsed onto the couch, in pain. Sasha slowly made her way downstairs, just as Darryl began to cry!

Sasha made her way to him and gently touched his ribs.

"I'm going to get a bottle of something, somewhere to ease your pain. You're going to be alight." she said soothingly. She started to stand up but Darryl grabbed her hand.

"I'm not crying because I'm in pain. You actually believe what Abraham was saying, don't you? I can see it in your eyes."

"No! I don't, Darryl. I just can't believe he'd hurt me like that, that's all. I'm going to see if a bottle of something is around here…"

"I don't want a bottle. I want you. Look me in the eye and tell me you don't believe any of that?"

Sasha decided to do better than that. She began to remove her clothing and helped him get his pants off, before burying herself onto his firm length. She then slowly slid up and down upon his brawny penetration.

Darryl forgot the pain in his ribs, as he slowly rolled his hips in response to her leisurely gyrations. He stared into Sasha's eyes as she wiped away his tears.

Unfortunately, Sasha had indeed missed a camera in her house…

Meanwhile, down below, The Governor watched their sex act and tried to hide his frustration. Why the hell couldn't Jenner get the cure right? That could've been him with Sasha! He turned when Dr. Jenner walked in with none other than Merle Dixon, who had been found and captured. Merle grinned at the sight on the monitor.

"You approve?" The Governor asked.

"It's the end of the world. My little brother has to get ass from someplace."

"But if it was up to you, it wouldn't be Sasha Williams." The Governor said.

"No one can be too choosey now, can they?" Merle said, glaring at The Governor. The fucker had ended his life! And what he felt like doing was dragging this bastard out into he woods someplace and pulling a 'Deliverance' on him. That's what him and some of his good ole boys would've done back in the day.

"What's he doing here?" The Governor asked blithely.

"I realized I've been going about this all wrong. We're going to tell the people of Alexandria that they're free to leave with no problems." Dr. Jenner said matter-of-factly.

The Governor and Merle looked at one another, before looking at Jenner.

"Why?" they asked in unison.

"Because." was all Jenner said.

"Morgan Jones will be coming below to offer himself up as a test subject with some woman down here. So you're saying none of that needs to happen?" The Governor asked.

"None of it. Phillip, tell everyone that they are free to stay or leave. They won't be gassed." Dr. Jenner said and left the room. Edwin Jenner was not going to let anyone except medical personnel know what he was up to now. But when he did make it known to Phillip and Merle what he was planning, he was certain they would go along with it.

He would get the men and women of Alexandria to help with his experiments. Gassing everyone would get him nowhere. He would be left without people to help return civilization to it's natural state.

He planned to force The Governor and Merle Dixon to undergo plastic surgery. One of them would look like Darryl Dixon. The other, Rick Grimes. It didn't take a genius to guess who would be who.


	24. Chapter 24

**SIX WEEKS LATER** -The Kingdom

Sasha was awakened by the sounds of birds having quite the animated conversation, in the nearby trees. She opened her eyes to see that there was no sun streaming through the window because the day was overcast.

But she didn't mind. And she felt guilty for sleeping in so late. She stared over at Darryl's sleeping form. He didn't look as if he felt any guilt at all! Sasha smiled at him before getting up, naked, to walk over to the window. She stared out, knowing she was taking a chance of someone seeing her, but saw no one around.

After The Governor had told them that Dr. Jenner had realized that killing everyone would not help re-populize civilization and that they could live as they wanted, a few people decided to leave Alexandria anyway, not quite trusting the situation.

Darryl and Sasha were included in that category. Not that living in the Kingdom was any safer than Alexandria, if Jenner changed his mind, but Abraham had become a problem.

Actually, a threat.

One night, gun fire came through the first floor windows of Sasha's house! It had been the middle of the night and Darryl, along with Rick and Morgan, could see that the bullets had come from Abraham's house. The house had been dark and when confronted, Abraham turned on a porch light, yawned and claimed he didn't know what the fuck they were talking about.

Then one week later, someone had thrown a molotov cocktail from the guard's tower, and down near Darryl! Abraham had been on duty up there but again, he didn't know how the thing got there or why it was thrown at Darryl.

Darryl retaliated by firing an arrow threw Abraham's bedroom window the next night! Sasha convinced Darryl that they should move elsewhere. They left and asked to be taken in by King Ezekial.

Darryl didn't really go for the King and Knights thing, but he was respectful and the both of them earned their keep. Morgan and Carol showed up days later and Sasha had to push Abraham's words from her mind that Darryl loved Carol. She didn't believe that.

But she was not so sure that Carol was not somewhat in love with Darryl. Sasha heard Darryl stir and realized she didn't have time to worry about it. Darryl awoke and looked around until he saw her over by the window.

"Come back to bed." he said sleepily. Sasha made her way to the bed and sat on the edge.

"We promised Ezekiel we would scavenge today. And we're better at it than most people so we should get going." Sasha reminded him with a good morning kiss. When her lips left his, he groaned.

"You're right. There was actually a laundromat I wanted to check out. I didn't have the time because it was back when we were trying to steer the walkers someplace else."

"A laundromat? What would we find there?" Sasha asked.

"Hey, you never know. Maybe someone left behind clean clothes that could fit someone here." Darryl said and got up, looking around for his clothing. A knock on the door hurried Sasha into a robe and by the time she opened the door, Darryl had pants on.

Morgan was on the other side.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted anything…"

"You didn't. What's up?" Sasha asked. Morgan came in and Sasha closed the door. Darryl nodded to him.

"I thought you all should know that Abraham was let in here last night. Late." Morgan said grimly. Darryl stood up.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Darryl asked, glancing at Sasha.

"He's here because he said Michonne has disappeared. There's a search for her and Abraham claims Rick asked him to come over and help."

"What do you mean she's 'disappeared'? What happened?" Sasha asked.

"Is this some bullshit of Abraham's?" Darryl asked.

"I don't know." Morgan said grimly. "I asked some about it before we went to bed last night…"

"That fucker is still here in the Kingdom?" Darryl asked.

"Yeah, Darryl. I'm sorry. Zeke thought it was too late for him to be driving back."

"Okay, okay," Sasha sighed, "I don't like it either but if Michonne isn't missing, Abraham has to know that he's not going to get away with lying."

"What happened?" Darryl asked. "I mean he can't just come here and say that shit! How did she disappear?"

"From Alexandria." Morgan said. "Or at least that's what it looks like. No one saw her leave. I'm driving over there today to find out what happened. Rick's going to need us."

Sasha nodded.

"You're right. Thanks for letting us know." she said and Morgan opened the door and left. Sasha looked at Darryl.

"What do you think?"

"I think that if Michonne really did go missing within Alexandria, then Dr. Jenner and the Governor are full of shit. Let's find out what's going on." Darryl grumbled.

* * *

Breakfast was bad.

King Ezekiel was holding a private breakfast in the 'town square' gazebo. Jerry stood, guarding the area as Carol and Abraham ate. Carol looked up as Morgan, Sasha and Darryl arrived to join then. Abraham finished a slice of bacon, then stood up.

"Well, well! Good mornin', Sasha darlin'! I have a seat for you right here."

"You really going to keep this up?" Darryl asked.

"Keep what up? I'm just offering Sasha a chair." Abraham responded in a fake sounding innocent voice.

"Now, now," King Ezekiel said, "I don't know the exact circumstances of the discord between you two men, but there is no time for it."

"No, there isn't." Sasha said. "What happened to Michonne?"

"She's gone." Abraham said. "And I know everyone is wondering if Jenner pulled something on her. Rick said they were on a run and she just disappeared."

Morgan frowned.

"That's not what you told me. You said she disappeared from inside of Alexandria." he said.

"I thought that too. Because the last time I saw her, she was inside the gate. But Rick insisted that they were out on a run and she disappeared."

Darryl squinted at Abraham.

"Which was it? Did she disappear on the inside or on the outside?" he asked impatiently.

"What Rick says. I must have been wrong about seeing her on her porch." Abraham said coolly. Sasha eyed Darryl, who gave her a funny look back. Carol caught the look and had to admit, she was a bit confused as to why Abraham was confused himself, about the whole thing. She stood up.

"Okay, well, we don't have time to sit around here. We need to go back to Alexandria and help with a search party." she said.

"I agree. Which is why I came here." Abraham said, standing up himself. "I thought you all would want to know and help."

"Are you thinking that some other outside group has absconded with her?" King Ezekiel asked.

"Michonne wouldn't let herself be taken. Let's talk to Rick and find out what's really going on." Darryl said before standing in front of Abraham.

"This better not be any bullshit." he said.

Abraham said nothing to that and watched as Darryl and Sasha headed to a vehicle. Morgan, Ezekiel and Jerry left as well, with the intention of heading to Alexandria together. That left him alone with Carol.

"So…is Michonne really missing?"

"Oh come on, Carol! You think I'd head over here with some story that you all can call bullshit on? Rick asked me to come here and get you all!"

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry I doubted you. I suppose we should get going…"

"What the fuck are you doing here, Carol? I just assumed you were here to fuck Darryl and get him away from Sasha! They look more coupled up than ever!"

Carol folded her arms.

"That's because they are. I came here because it's peaceful and I needed a break. Morgan needed a break."

"Yeah that's all well and good but you need to fuck Darryl!"

"Shut up, Abraham. We're going back to Alexandria in the truck you came in last night. Don't say SHIT to me about Darryl, are we clear?" Carol said before walking off. Abraham just shook his head. He would just have to deal with this one his own. He had hoped to convince Carol to work with him to break up, whatever the hell this Darryl/Sasha shit was. But clearly, Carol had someone else in mind to fuck. Probably King Zeke.

Abraham grabbed a final slice of bacon and followed after Carol. She got in on the passenger side and then waited for him to get in and start the vehicle. Jerry drove the first truck out, while Darryl and Sasha chose a car and followed out after Jerry.

Abraham started the truck and eased out of the Kingdom. As they drove the solitary roads, Carol realized she couldn't keep quiet after all.

"How is Rosita?"

"Sick."

"And I suppose that's the answer you'll give me if I ask about Herschel and Beth?"

"Why don't you come back and find out for yourself? I don't know how Rosita is because I'm not stepping foot down below. I did that once and lost Sasha." he grumbled.

"I like you, Abraham. And that means I'm sorry you're hurting. But there's nothing to do but move on until their relationship fizzles out."

Abraham glanced over at Carol and a slow smile spread across his face. Carol stared back in confusion.

"What?"

"That's the first time I've ever heard you talk, as if you think what those two have isn't going to last."

"Yeah well in this world, a relationship fizzles out when one person dies."

Abraham raised a brow.

"Yep!" he said. "And if I pulled out from behind them, drove up on Darryl's side and smashed into him, chances are…"

"Stop it! Stop this right now!" Carol yelled, but Abraham suddenly sank his foot on the accelerator and smashed into back of Darryl and Sasha's car!

"That's fucking it!" Darryl yelled and pulled off into the woods.

Abraham kept going. Sasha could see Carol's shocked face, staring out at them from the passenger side as the truck sped off!

"Are you hurt?" Darryl asked, looking her over.

"No. I'm fine. I can't believe he'd try and kill both of us! What is wrong with him? This can't be from just my breaking it off with him! Maybe he was like this the whole time?" Sasha said, shocked.

The sound of walkers growling, didn't give them time to ponder it for much longer. They both got out of the car and Sasha pulled out a knife she usually carried on a belt of hers. She stabbed two walkers in the head, while Darryl just removed an arrow from his pack and stabbed one. He then looked around.

"There's more coming. I'll get the car started so we can get of here." Darryl said and they both got back inside.

The car didn't start up right away and Sasha closed her eyes, waiting for the sound of the engine to turn over. It did and she opened her eyes again, ignored the two walkers that were banging on her passenger side window and remembered to breathe again, as Darryl backed the car out of the woods and on to the road.

"Abraham is dead when we get there." Darryl said coolly. "Tell me you're not going to have a problem with that?"

Sasha said nothing.

Darryl looked over at her.

"Sasha? He didn't just try to kill me this time. I've shown him all the goddamned understanding I plan to. Tell me you won't have a problem with my killing him?"

Sasha shook her head.

"I'm sorry it's come to this. Our leaving should have been enough." was all she said. Darryl reached over to touch the side of her face, briefly, before accelerating towards their former stronghold.

"What if I talked to him?"

"Sasha…"

"Darryl, we can lock him up. In the jail there."

Darryl screeched to a stop in the middle of the road and turned to look at her. He was sure the noise would attract walkers so there was not much time.

"I'm going to let you drive the car back to Alexandria."

"Why? Were are you going?"

"Back to Alexandria. I'll come in through the tunnels."

Sasha looked away.

"I can't let him continue to do what he's doing. It's one thing to try and kill me. But this time you were involved. You understand we might not be so lucky next time if he stays alive?"

"I understand you're going to do what you need to do." she said sadly. Darryl knew that Sasha needed time alone to process what was going to happen. He got out of the car and took his archer kit. He then leaned in the window.

"Don't warn him. Promise me you won't warn him."

Sasha nodded and Darryl gave her a long, lingering look, before running off into the woods. Sasha scooted over and started the car. She then continued the drive to Alexandria.

 _This was stupid, she thought._ Abraham did not have to die from jealousy. Yes, he had tried to kill them both but she honestly thought some time locked up would shape him up. No one needed to die.

She suddenly saw Ezekiel's truck coming towards her. She stopped the car and got out. Morgan, Carol, Zeke and Jerry stopped and got out as well. Morgan and Carol ran towards her!

"Are you alright?" Morgan asked.

"Where's Darryl? Is he hurt?" Carol asked.

"How come you didn't stop him?" Sasha asked Carol. "You just let him run us off of the road!"

"I don't really see how any of this is my fault, Sasha. Maybe if you had broken up with him properly, he wouldn't be feeling so murderous! And where is Darryl?"

"We thought we saw Michonne." Sasha lied. Morgan looked around, as did Ezekiel and Jerry.

"Where?" King Ezekiel asked.

"Back aways. Darryl asked me to get some help." Sasha lied again. Carol gave Sasha a hard look, before turning to the men.

"Go back to Alexandria. We'll figure out how to help from there."

Morgan sensed something was off and turned to Zeke and Jerry and urged them to just do what Carol said. Morgan turned back to Carol.

"You're going to get a ride from Sasha?"

"Yes, I'm going to get a ride back with Sasha." Carol said pointedly, as she stared at Sasha. Nothing more was said until Morgan, King Ezekiel and Jerry got in their truck, turned around and headed back to Alexandria.

"Where is Darryl? Really?"

Sasha folded her arms.

"He's on his way back to Alexandria on foot. He's going to go in through the tunnels and kill Abraham."

"And you just let him?"

"Boy," Sasha said sarcastically, "you really don't know Darryl that well, do you? How was I going to stop him?"

"Oh I don't know, by **TALKING TO HIM**!" Carol yelled.

"Don't yell at me. Don't yell at me ever again. We left Alexandria knowing that if we didn't, it could come to this. Then you had to follow us over to the Kingdom, let Abraham in with some half assed story about Michonne being missing…"

"It's not half assed. We confirmed it with Rick." Carol told her.

"But Rick didn't need us to search for her. He could have used everyone still living in Alexandria. You knew that and you should have told King Ezekiel to turn Abraham away when he came here in the middle of the night! Then you watched him run us off the road!"

"Okay. Fine. There's blame all around. What do we do to keep Darryl from killing Abraham?"

Sasha took a deep breath.

"We have to get back there before Darryl does. Then we have Rick lock Abraham up in one of the cells. Darryl won't do anything to him if he's locked away." Sasha said.

Carol nodded.

"Okay. That sounds reasonable. And after we put Abraham behind bars, we search for Michonne."

* * *

"What?" Rick asked Morgan. He had **KNOWN** something was off! Abraham and Carol had gotten here and Carol jumped out of the truck, yelled at Abraham, then got into another truck with Morgan, Ezekiel and Jerry and left again. Abraham had just gotten out of the truck and went into his house as if he hadn't done a damned thing!

Now he was hearing the story from Morgan, King Ezekiel and Jerry, who had returned again. And without Sasha or Darryl.

"Sasha and Carol are on their way back here. Darryl supposedly saw Michonne in the woods, but I don't think Carol believes that. She told us to come back here." Morgan said. Eugene gaped while listening to the story. Tara hurried over to Abraham's house. He was sitting on the porch drinking a beer.

"Is it true? Did you run Darryl and Sasha off of the road?" she asked, looking him over.

"No." Abraham said calmly, setting down the beer. "They pulled off into the woods on their own. Probably to screw like rabbits."

"They stopped to 'screw' when they knew Michonne was missing?" Tara asked sarcastically. Rick walked up the porch steps and back handed Abraham so hard, he fell out of his chair! Tara moved back a bit and Rick hovered over Abraham, who was on the porch floor.

"Listen to me, you red headed piece of shit! If Darryl and Sasha don't return, you're dead, do you hear me?"

Abraham slowly stood up.

"I'm going to assume that your woman's disappearance, has caused you to lose your mind." Abraham responded coldly.

Rick stared at him. Rick who was not 'Rick' any longer. It had taken six weeks for Dr. Jenner's work to heal. But he was now officially Rick Grimes. Merle Dixon had run off…again, so there was no one to be Darryl. At least not yet.

Rick had been grabbed in the middle of the night, while sleeping next to Michonne. The Governor had then slipped between the sheets next to her and tried not to think of strangling her with one of her own braids. The Governor had watched Michonne sleep, unable to get the images of her killing his precious little girl, out of his mind.

It didn't take long for Michonne to figure out that he wasn't Rick. The Governor couldn't quite figure out how he fucked that up, but when she confronted him with her sword, he managed to get it away from her, knock her out and have her sent below for Jenner to deal with. The Governor had briefly pondered fucking her senseless, while she was unconscious, just to teach her a lesson. But he restrained himself. For baby Judith's sake. She was **HIS** daughter now.

Now he had to hear this shit. About Abraham almost killing Sasha.

Morgan and Ezekiel rushed to Rick's side to stop him, in case he was planning to hit Abraham again. Eugene peered at Rick. He didn't think he'd ever seen Rick just hit one of their people like that. Then again, Rick and Darryl were close. And trying to kill Sasha was just as bad. Abraham did have it coming. But still, there was something different about Rick's anger now. And Rick didn't insult people either. Calling Abraham a 'red headed piece of shit' was kind of low.

"We need to be looking for Michonne," 'Rick' said. "We don't have time for your bullshit. Darryl and Sasha left this place to keep the peace! They're coming back to help and you pull this shit? I'm surprised you're still alive?"

"Why? Because Darryl was going to do something to me?" Abraham asked challengingly. "You know, now that everyone is gathered around here, I want you to know that your story about Michonne smells."

"What do you mean?" Tara asked.

"I mean I fucking saw her on her porch taking care of Judith! Next thing you know, she's gone and Rick here is saying they were out on a run. I never saw either Michonne or you leave here." Abraham said coolly.

The gate opened and Sasha drove in. Carol was in the passenger seat. Rick was spared having to answer when he, and a few others, hurried over to the car. Everyone went over there except for Eugene.

"Something's not right with Rick." Eugene said to Abraham.

"That ain't Rick." Abraham responded in a low voice. He picked up his beer and sipped it.

Eugene looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Rick hit me once back when we were trying to get away from those Terminus fucks. I know what being hit by Rick Grimes feels like. Whoever this fuck is, can't backhand worth shit."

"Holy God!" Eugene muttered. "Who is it then?"

"Who the fuck knows? But this Rick is responsible for Michonne's disappearance. Hers and Rick's. If he hasn't been killed."

"Oh God!" Eugene moaned.

"We have to keep cool, Eugene, until we figure this shit out. Pretend like we think this is Rick." Abraham said.

Meanwhile, Rick pulled Sasha into the tightest hug she had ever experienced! She practically had to wriggle out of his hold! But she suspected that was because he was upset over Michonne.

"How are you holding up, Rick?" Sasha asked.

"I should be asking you that. What happened with Abraham?" Rick asked in a no-nonsense tone.

Carol interrupted.

"We don't have time for all of that. Darryl is on his way back here to kill Abraham. We need to jail Abraham for his own good." she told Rick.

"Well, I don't follow you. I mean if Darryl is coming here to commit murder, then maybe he's the one that needs to be locked up. Just to cool off a bit." Rick said. Carol raised a brow and Sasha shook her head.

"No, Rick," Sasha said, "Abraham is the problem. All we need is for a couple of men to overpower him, get him into a cell and I know that Darryl will back off if we look like we're handling the problem."

'Rick' sighed.

"Darryl wants to come in through the underground gate?" he asked. Sasha nodded.

"How about we lock the entrance so Darryl can't come in **AND** lock Abraham up?"

Sasha eyed Rick.

"You want to do both? That doesn't make any sense! We still need to look for Michonne. Darryl is a good tracker. Abraham is too but he's the one that's tried to kill us numerous times. I just think if Darryl saw that the problem was handled…"

"I think," 'Rick' interrupted, "that we don't have time for this crap. We'll meet Darryl on the outside when we begin our search. We'll lock up Abraham while we're gone. He can't help because chances are, he'll try and kill both of you while we're looking for Michonne."

Carol shrugged.

"It makes sense, I guess. But you know it will probably take like four of you to get Abraham to the jail."

"No it won't." Rick said and looked over at Morgan.

"Lock the tunnel gate so that Darryl can't get into the stronghold. We'll find him on the outside." he said and removed his gun.

"What are you going to do?" Sasha asked but 'Rick' did not answer. He walked back over to Abraham's porch, with Sasha and Carol on his heels. Jerry kept a distance back and looked his King. There was a lot of drama over here in Alexandria…

Rick stepped up on the first porch stair.

"We need to find Michonne and we can't have you fucking with people here. You're going to cool off in the jail for a bit."

Abraham finished off his beer and slowly set the bottle down.

"This is bullshit, Rick! Yes, my truck 'tapped' their car! But I didn't try and run anyone off the road! Sasha, I I love you and I wouldn't want anything to happen…"

Rick pointed his gun at Abraham's leg and fired! Carol gasped and Sasha's eyes grew huge! King Ezekiel and Jerry ran over! Rick looked at them.

"Let's get him over to the jail." he said tersely.

"Fuck you! You're not Rick! Michonne's not missing! Fuck you!" Abraham yelled as Zeke and Jerry lead him over to the jails. Carol hurried after them while Sasha stayed rooted in place. Along with Eugene.

"What is he talking about?" Sasha asked. She looked from 'Rick' to Eugene. Eugene was scared shitless! He just remembered Abraham's words and pretended that Rick was actually Rick. He hadn't expected Abraham to call Fake Rick out like that!

"I don't know!" Eugene muttered. Rick gave Eugene a hard look.

"Go to the underground gate and make sure Morgan has it locked." he said and watched as Eugene scurried off.

"Rick, was that really necessary?" Sasha asked.

Rick put away his gun and reached out to touch her face.

"Sasha, it's the smart play for now. I'm thinking of Darryl and you. You all belong here. You should have never had to leave because of him. If he doesn't get himself together, he's banished, okay?"

Sasha nodded and Rick removed his hand from her face and walked off. Sasha stared after Rick for a bit before slowly sitting down on Abraham's porch. Abraham had said that that was not Rick. Abraham had also gone crazy when she and Darryl got together.

But where **WAS** Michonne? Michonne didn't 'disappear' unless she wanted to be gone. Michonne came to their rescue, not the reverse.

Meanwhile, Darryl had his hand on the gate, when Morgan locked it!

"Morgan? Let me in!"

"I can't. Rick said that we'll meet you outside and we'll all look for Michonne together."

"You know?" Darryl asked.

Eugene suddenly joined them and he looked at Morgan.

"We need to let him in here."

"Rick said that?" Morgan asked.

"Rick is not Rick. Something has happened and that man that we've been living with since Michonne disappeared, is not Rick Grimes. And we're going to need all the help we can get to get rid of him. Let him in." Eugene said.

Morgan didn't know what the hell was going on, but something in Eugene's voice, made him trust his gut. He let Darryl in and locked the gate behind him. Darryl followed behind Morgan and Eugene, knowing that he had a bigger problem than Abraham Ford to deal with above, if any of what Eugene had just said was true.


	25. Chapter 25

Abraham awoke to find Sasha sitting by his cot bedside in a jail cell. The door to the cell was open. He groaned in pain and tried to sit up but Sasha gently pushed him back down.

"I'm going to get you a pain pill and some water." Sasha said. After Dr. Jenner's chemical attack on the infirmary, he let them know, via The Governor, that it was safe to go back inside. She stood up and walked out of the cell. She poured some water and took out a pain pill, then turned and went back in the cell. Abraham sat up slowly and accepted the medication. Sasha then left the cell again. Abraham sat up successfully and let the pill kick in.

"Sasha, honey, that's not Rick. I don't know who he is, but we're dealing with someone else now."

Sasha set down the container of water and walked to his cell door.

She then closed it.

"Come on, Sasha…"

"No, you come on! If something isn't right with Rick, we'll deal with it! But you tell me why you did what you did? Why did you try and kill both Darryl and me?"

"It was an accident. Carol was yacking away and I just wasn't paying attention is all."

"Okay so when you saw that you'd hit us, why didn't you stop and help us?"

"Darlin', let me out of here. Something is going on around here and we need to get to the bottom of it."

"It's over between us. It's over even if things don't work out with Darryl. Now i'm going to try and keep Darryl from killing you, because he's not feeling as generous as I am about the way you've been acting."

Abraham said nothing for a long moment, before broaching the subject of their failed relationship.

"How'd it happen? I mean one day you two were hanging out or what?"

"It just did. Kind of like us."

"We didn't just happen. I had feelings for you for awhile before I acted on them."

"I didn't know that, Abraham! I don't know how many times I can say I'm sorry! I just…it's like being with Darryl has made me realize that you were never the man for me. Not really."

"That's a bunch of horse shit nonsense!" Abraham snapped. "We were just fine…"

Sasha clutched his cell door.

"No we weren't. And it began when we thought Rosita was killed in that explosion. You never believed me about the underground."

"So you took up with someone that did?" Abraham countered.

"I didn't 'take up' with Darryl to hurt you or get back at you. And to keep the peace, Darryl and I left. But that wasn't good enough for you, was it? You had to follow us there."

"I told you why I came to find you all. Michonne is still missing and we need help finding her." Abraham countered, just as Darryl opened the door and stepped inside. He slammed the door and set his archery equipment down on a chair.

"Eugene told me about Rick." Darryl said in an even tone.

"Eugene?" Sasha asked.

"Eugene believes me about Rick." Abraham said, his eyes now on Darryl.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Sasha asked.

Darryl dragged his eyes off of Abraham and looked at Sasha.

"I need for you to leave. Then we'll find out if it's even true or not."

Sasha looked from Darryl and over at Abraham, before looking at Darryl again.

"No." she said.

"Then you can watch me kill him." Darryl told her, as he picked up his bow and arrow and proceeded to take aim at Abraham! Abraham rolled his eyes!

"There's fucking bars on the doors! You won't be able to hit shit through here!"

"Rick shot him, Darryl! You can't do this!" Sasha pleaded.

Darryl put his weapon down, grabbed Sasha's arm and pulled her outside. He closed the door behind him.

"I asked you not to warn him. That meant not saying anything about this to anyone."

"What part of 'I don't want you to just kill someone over me', do you not get? We can go someplace else…"

"We tried that. It didn't work. We're coming back here and he can't be here."

"Darryl…"

"Either you want me or him, Sasha. If it's me, then Abraham dies." Darryl said, his eyes probing hers.

"How about neither of you!" Sasha snapped and skulked off. Darryl walked after her and caught her arm again in five steps!

"What does that mean?"

Sasha pulled her arm out of his grip!

"It means that I'm taking myself out of the equation! if I'm not here, no one dies."

Suddenly, Abraham's voice boomed out of the structure. Clearly the walls were thin.

" **IF YOU LEAVE BECAUSE OF HIM, HE DIES, SASHA! I FUCKING SWEAR IT!** "

Darryl hurried back in, aimed his bow and shot past Abraham into the cell! The arrow hit the wall behind him and Abraham's eyes widened!

"Holy shit!" Abraham muttered.

"Yeah and next time it's going in your goddamned forehead!" Darryl assured him. Sasha turned and ran. She ran and ran until she found a car with the keys inside. She jumped in and started the car…just as 'Rick' jumped into the passenger seat.

"I'm not letting you leave here alone! Let's just go someplace to get some air." he told her. Sasha didn't have time to think about the idea that if what was being said was true, she was leaving Alexandria with a man she did not know, and probably would not be safe with. But she could not stay here. Not right now.

Sasha started the car and Eugene reluctantly opened the gate to let him out. He knew he would end up paying for that later on.

* * *

Sasha sped down the empty streets, wishing she was alone in the car to collect her thoughts. But she had 'Fake Rick' next to her. Maybe he wasn't fake. Maybe Abraham was wrong about this whole thing. Darryl believed it though. Darryl…

Had she been stupid just now? Maybe she should have just looked the other way. But when she thought like that, she couldn't help but think of Tyrese and Bob. If they had been in her situation, they would have stepped in as well. Sasha could not help but think about the way Darryl had looked at her just now. As if trying to help Abraham was betraying him in some way.

She glanced over at Rick, who was staring at her intently. One thing at a time, Sasha! Find out if there is anything to this Rick not being Rick!

Sasha stopped the car suddenly in the middle of the street and looked over at Rick.

"Why did you come with me?"

"What do you mean? I wasn't about to let you go out here alone, upset and all."

"Hmmm. Well why don't we look for Michonne? Abraham said you two were out on a run when she disappeared. Where was this?" Sasha asked, starting the car again.

"You know that one area over by that stop sign, where the roads cross and there's a dead hayfield?" Rick asked.

Sasha glanced over at him.

"No."

"Sure you do. Anyway, that's where Michonne just disappeared."

"From the hayfield itself?"

"Yes."

"Rick, why would she have been looking around in a hayfield?"

"She was hiding from walkers. We both were."

"But separately?"

"Yes. It's just down the road aways." Rick assured her. Sasha didn't believe him but kept driving while simultaneously thinking about the knife she kept on her belt. She kept driving and driving and saw no signs of any mysterious hayfield or crossroads. She pulled over, stopped the car and got out, pulling her knife out as she slammed the door. Rick got out as well, just as Sasha held the knife behind her back.

"Sasha, what's going on? Why'd you stop?"

"Who are you and what's really going on here?" Sasha asked tersely.

"What are you talking about?"

"Cut the shit, Rick, or whoever the hell you are! Neither Darryl nor Abraham believe that you're Rick! So if Dr. Jenner is up to something AGAIN, you need to be straight with me!"

Rick/The Governor looked around, then focused on Sasha.

"Alright. You're right."

Sasha didn't quite expect to hear that. What she expected was for Rick to explain himself in someway. But somehow hearing this man admit that he was not Rick, was infinitely worse. She swallowed.

"Okay, well…who are you then?"

"Guess?"

Sasha pulled out her knife!

"I'm not in the mood! **WHO** are you?"

Rick/The Governor began to slowly walk around to her side of the car. Sasha moved backwards so and ended up on the passenger side, where he had just been, keeping the car between them.

"I'll give you a hint: I like having two eyes."

Sasha gasped, looking him up and down!

"The Governor? How? Why?"

"Dr. Jenner. He is determined to find a way to save all of us and bring civilization back to normal. He knew that killing everyone would get him nowhere. He also knew that Rick has a persuasive way about him. If I, as Rick, could persuade you all to just bend a little…"

"Where is Michonne! Hell, where is Rick?" Sasha snapped. She didn't want to hear anymore of Jenner's 'Happy Civilization' crap! What was wrong with these people?

"They're down below. Michonne realized something wasn't right. She's alive but I couldn't have her up here. Sasha, my doing this was about so much more than what Jenner wanted."

"What are you talking about?" Sasha asked warily.

"You know I have feelings for you. I always have. Going back to when Tyrese and you came to Woodbury."

Sasha gaped at him!

"What?! Oh my God! I don't want to hear anymore!"

That was when The Governor got around to her side and got the knife away from her! He then calmly put it in his own belt.

"I want you to listen to me: Jenner isn't going to stop trying to fix what has happened. You are a beautiful, fertile woman that can bring healthy children into this new world. I know I'm not Darryl or even Abraham, but I can make what happens between us not seem ugly. I can make it lovely and beautiful…"

"You're crazy. I watched you behead Herschel. Is Herschel pretending to be someone too?"

"That's not the answer I want to hear, Sasha. Now we're going to just take a walk in the woods. I think it would be a perfect place for our lovemaking." Rick leered. And Rick never leered. Not the real one.

Sasha punched him in the throat, causing The Governor to reel backwards. Sasha then ran and ran and ran until she realized no one was behind her. No one at all.

She could hear walkers and she ran back towards the road, deciding she would take her chances with the Governor. But when she got back to the road, she didn't see The Governor anywhere. Or so she thought.

She looked down on the ground and saw dust or dirt. The same kind that Shane turned in to when Darryl killed him…

Sasha noticed that the trunk was open! Who the hell had opened it? Maybe The Governor? Maybe…

That was her last thought as a chloroformed hand subdued her nose and mouth and she dropped. Merle Dixon caught her before she fell and licked the side of her face for good measure.

"Sasha Williams! My brother's black little girlfriend. You're about to get to know the other Dixon brother, darlin'. I need to find out what you're intentions are towards my little brother." he grinned, picking her up and tossing her over his shoulder. He then grinned down at the dust/dirt that used to be The Governor, before putting her in the trunk, closing it and getting in on the driver's side of the car.

Merle Dixon screeched off down the road, to parts unknown, for now.

* * *

Abraham drove the RV down the road doing 30mph, looking for some sign of Sasha or the car she had left in. How the hell she could've left with Fake Rick, was beyond his understanding! But he did concede that she was upset with him and Darryl. Maybe she just wasn't thinking.

Carol was with them as well. Morgan stayed behind so that Ezekiel and himself could try and find out if anyone else was missing around Alexandria. Jerry took a truck back to The Kingdom, in case there was funny business back there.

Abraham glanced over at Darryl, who was looking at a map in the passenger seat.

"Look, I'm just going to tell you straight out that I'm never going to give up trying to get Sasha back. She's angry with me over Rosita and she's using you to get over it." he told Darryl. Carol rubbed the back of her neck. She had hoped that this search would not spur an argument about Sasha.

Darryl set the map down and looked over at Abraham.

"Is that what you think?"

"It's what I know! I loved Sasha from the moment I realized Bob was dead. And then when Tyrese died, well I knew she needed me."

Darryl just stared at him. Abraham tried to keep an eye on the road and take in Darryl's eyes, but his silence was getting on his nerves!

"You clearly have something to say about that." Abraham said.

"No. No I don't." Darryl said. "Because it was never like that for me. I wasn't waiting for Bob to die or for Tyrese to not be there for Sasha. One night we just realized that we needed each other. After, we realized we always wanted to need one another. In every way."

Carol stared at the back of Abraham's head. His neck was turning as red as his hair! She decided to interrupt.

"How far have we come? I mean Sasha would not have driven with an impostor this far!"

Abraham noticed some tire marks over on the right side of the road and pulled over in front of them. Darryl noticed them too and got out quickly to inspect them. It was as he was looking at the black marks, that he noticed the pile of dust.

"Shit!" he hissed, just as Abraham and Carol got out. Abraham saw the dust pile.

"That looks like the same shit that was in Shane's house." Abraham noted. "Who the hell was that?"

"Let's hope it was the Rick look alike." Darryl noted, looking around. If Sasha managed to kill Fake Rick then why would Sasha drive off in this direction?

"Something's wrong. That's the impostor. Sasha got the better of him so why the hell didn't she come back to Alexandria?" Abraham asked.

"Probably for the same reasons she left," Carol said, "to get away from the two of you. I say this means Sasha is probably fine. Let's just head back."

"No." Darryl said. "Take the RV but I'm not leaving her out here. Something else is going on."

"Like what?" Carol asked.

"Carol, Jenner sent a Rick look alike up here. The real Rick and Michonne are still missing. For all we know, Jenner sent someone up here to kidnap Sasha after she killed the impostor. I'm going to track them. On foot if I have to." Darryl told her.

Abraham hated to admit it, but that did make a certain type of sense.

"Carol and I will head back to Alexandria and see if we can get down underground. We can't beat Jenner here. He just pretends as if he'll let us live our lives and then he pulls this shit. We need to hash is out with him." Abraham said.

Darryl said nothing to that. He turned and walked off down the road with his gear, more sure with each step that he was headed in the right direction to find Sasha.

* * *

Merle had found a small house in the woods and decided it would be the perfect place for him and Sasha to rest.

Actually he was resting while listening to Sasha scream and kick on the trunk door. He finally got up from a couch, walked outside and opened the trunk. Sasha's face appeared and she stared at a man she had never seen before in her life!

"Who are you?! You let me out of here!"

"Trunk's open, darlin'. Get yourself out of the there." he grinned and walked back towards the house. Sasha climbed out of the trunk and looked around.

"Where are we?"

"Out in the middle of nowhere. Someplace."

"Nice. Well, I need to head back home. Are the keys in the car?" Sasha asked in a haughty manner. Merle dangled the keys, unzipped his pants and dropped them down into them, before zipping up again.

"They are right down there, nice and warm. You can retrieve them with those cute little teeth of yours if you'd like."

Sasha pulled out another knife and Merle's eyes widened!

"Where the fuck did you get that?! I searched you!"

Sasha didn't even want to think about what that meant!

"It was in the trunk already, perv! Give me the keys— **NOW**!"

"Now, now, that's no way to act. After I saved you from The Governor and all." Merle purred.

"Who are you? Someone working for Jenner?" Sasha asked, thinking that there was something disturbingly familiar about this man. It's like he was a Bizarro version of someone she knew.

"Well let me introduce myself, darlin'—my name is Merle Dixon. Darryl's big brother. You know, we're practically related now."

Good God, Sasha thought, looking him up and down! She'd heard about Merle, mostly from Michonne and none of it was flattering. She backed back.

"Oh. Well, I'll just walk back. Have a nice life." Sasha said and backed away. She then turned to walk off, but Merle ran so that he was in front of her, blocking her way!

"Now, that is so unfriendly! You know Jenner's got cameras down there. I watched my brother and you fuck. That was a sight to behold…"

Sasha stabbed him in the arm and then began running and running, until she found three walkers in her path! Sasha grabbed one and stabbed it in the head and was about to fend off another, when Merle appeared by her side and killed the other two with some kind of home made shank thing he had. Once the walkers were taken care of, Merle, who was half out of breath, turned to face her.

"Don't make me chase you, girl. I'm just trying to get to know the woman my brother is with."

"That was you that licked my face before I passed out, wasn't it? That's how you 'get to know' me?"

"Where I'm from, yes."

Sasha rolled her eyes!

"If you're intentions are sincere, then you'll get those keys out your pants and drive me home to Alexandria."

"I never said my intentions were sincere. But, I know my brother. He's not in Alexandria. He's out looking for you. He'll find us so it's best we stay put until he does." Merle said knowingly. He eyed her knife and Sasha reluctantly put it away, hoping like hell that he was right about Darryl being on his way.


	26. Chapter 26

It was dark as Sasha peeked out of a cabin window. Merle was sitting in front of a roaring fire. He had roasted some animal that was turning on a spit. It didn't smell bad but the animal itself looked to be suspect. Like it belonged to creature who's parts would've never been found in a supermarket!

She wondered why he was even bothering to cook anything, since chances were he couldn't eat. It occurred to her briefly, that he might be cooking it for her, but Sasha didn't want to think about a concept like that right now. She felt stupid for waiting around for Darryl to show up. The chances of him finding them at all seemed slim to none.

Sasha opened the door and stepped out into the darkness. She closed the door behind her and walked over to wear Merle was. He was cutting some part of the animal, off of the spit and putting it on to a paper plate. He looked up when he saw her and grinned!

"Couldn't keep away from my cooking, could you?" he beamed. "This is going to be crow stew."

Sasha's eyes widened!

"That's a crow?"

"No. It's a possum. But there a dead crow around the side of the house I'm going to clean. Add some beans and gravy and it's all good. Here, why don't you try some of this." he suggested, holding some of the possum up near her.

"Thank you, Merle, but I'm leaving. And I'm taking the car. I'm going to look for Darryl."

"You won't find him on the road. He'll be here any minute. My brother knows his way around."

Sasha could not deny that. She decided to sit with Merle. She wasn't hungry so much as she was worried. About Darryl roaming around in the dark, about the situation with Abraham and the underground…about everything.

"So tell me about that ginger fuck that's getting in between the two of you. How come neither one of you has killed him yet?" Merle asked.

Sasha thought about lying or telling him it was none of his business. But Merle had clearly been watching them as much as Dr. Jenner had. There was no point in evading the question.

"Because I can't believe Abraham has changed that much. The man I knew would've accepted things and moved on."

"Oh come on, girl! You didn't know him all that long."

"I won't even ask how you know that?"

Merle grinned again!

"I was in underground 'lock-up' for awhile. Dr. Jenner didn't think I could act like a 'productive citizen' so I was locked away. To inspire me, I was allowed to watch your group. Especially Darryl."

"Meaning since we got to Alexandria?" Sasha asked suspiciously.

"Before that. I saw your other boyfriend get eaten by those cannibal fucks! That was some nasty shit! I didn't think you all would get out of that shit alive!"

"You were watching us down South, from here in Alexandria?"

"No. I was locked up down there too. I woke up in an underground hospital. Then I was locked up. Then I became a productive citizen, then I slipped and was locked up again, then I became a productive citizen and was transferred up here. But that didn't happen until you all arrived in Alexandria." Merle revealed.

"Wait! We almost died at Terminus! Why didn't some of the underground guards come and help us?"

"What's Terminus?"

"Uh where the cannibals were?"

"Oh…I never knew the name of the place, I just knew they ate people. Carol really stepped up on that one."

Sasha said no more. If the Underground had seen them survive Terminus, then they had to have seen what went down at that hospital and Beth's death. Someone from down below could've helped them then. Or should have.

Rustling nearby pulled her out of her thoughts, and she touched the knife on her belt. Merle slowly stood up and looked over in the direction of the noise.

"Darryl? I know that's you! Get your ass out here and give your big brother a hug!"

Darryl slowly revealed himself, pointing his cross bow at his brother. Sasha slowly stood up and Merle grinned again.

"What's this? I saved your lady from the Governor and kept her safe until you arrived. Why are you pointing that damned thing at me?"

"You shouldn't be alive." Darryl said, never taking his eyes off of him.

"Dr. Jenner didn't agree. You know, he wanted me to be you."

Sasha peered at Merle.

"What does that mean?"

Merle turned towards Sasha.

"Meaning the Governor was Rick and I was supposed to be Darryl. Hell, it could still happen. I ran off to keep from doing it and warn you all." Merle said and turned back to Darryl.

Darryl slowly lowered his crossbow. There was a part of him that knew that killing Merle would be the right thing to do. That what Jenner was doing wasn't natural. But he believed Merle about this. And he believed that Merle hadn't wanted to pretend to be him.

He looked over at Sasha, who's facial expression he couldn't read. He then looked at his brother again.

"What happened after I put you down." Darryl asked, not phrasing it as a question.

"I woke up in the Underground. I have to say some shit though, Rick is a total fuck up as a leader. I saw that ass whipping the Governor gave him outside of the prison. Man. Rick should have beat his ass when he saw him again."

"Sasha, go inside." Darryl told her. Sasha decided to do as she was told. She walked back inside the cabin, but peered out of the window. While she didn't care if she ever saw Merle Dixon again, if Darryl was thinking of putting him down for a second time, it wouldn't be any easier now than it had been the first time. She was worried for him.

Meanwhile, Darryl confronted his brother.

"Why the fuck are we here? You killed the Governor?"

"Yeah. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

"I have a problem with your not turning that goddamned car back around, and bringing Sasha back to Alexandria! And I know you. I know you, Merle…you were up to something here. Alone in the woods with my…"

"Your what, Darryl? Huh? I'm a different man now. I accept whoever wants to be with whoever. I don't believe Jenner is ever going to get this world up and running again so it doesn't matter anymore. But you're not taking care of business with that ginger. And I don't think Sasha has been firm enough with him. And you know I'm right."

"You've been watching all of that, huh?" Darryl half sneered.

"Yeah, I have. I know you've tried to kill him but he's tried to kill **YOU** , more times than you have him. I think you ought to make Sasha do it." Merle told him.

Darryl looked confused.

"I ought to make Sasha do what?"

"Kill Abraham. That's his name, right?"

Darryl eyed his brother.

"I can't do that."

"Why the hell not? Shit, he tried to kill her too!"

"I can't tell her to do something like that! What the hell is wrong with you? If you were in my situation…"

"Oh…no, no, no!" Merle said, shaking his head emphatically. "I wouldn't be in your situation, boy. You can best believe that! Look, let me take care of it for you."

Darryl clenched his jaw.

"Meaning you'd kill Abraham?

I'll go now. I'll take the car, go to Alexandria, take care of it and then come back for you all."

Darryl moved his cross bow gear on to his back and folded his arms.

"What are you up to, Merle? Because you're not offering to do this for Sasha or me. What do you want?"

Merle's cockiness faltered for a moment, telling Darryl he was right to be suspicious.

"I can't stay on the run, Darryl. I mean there's nowhere to go that they won't find me."

"What does that have to do with me?" Darryl asked.

"Rick and Michonne are alive down there. Michonne is being tested. Tested to see if she's fertile."

Darryl squinted at him.

"What are you asking me?"

"Let me take Sasha down below. If I can bring her to Jenner, it'll go a long way to save me. I can help you with him. I can get him to leave you all alone…"

"And what happens if Michonne and Sasha end up being 'fertile'? What the fuck does that mean for Jenner?"

"You know what it means," Merle said in a surly tone, "Jenner still wants them to fuck someone that's come back from the dead. For research."

"Someone like you?" Darryl asked with a hard edge to his voice.

Merle didn't answer. Darryl turned and walked inside the cabin. He closed the door, took off his crossbow gear and tossed it onto a couch.

"Why'd you leave?" he asked Sasha in a no nonsense tone.

"Why do you think? How could you give me an ultimatum like that?"

"It's not one if you love me."

Sasha's eyes widened! The L word.

"It's not about that."

"Loving me?" Darryl question, enunciating the L word.

"Abraham needs time."

"He told me he's never going to stop trying to get you back."

"Then he's going to be wasting a lot of time." Sasha said, moving so she could close the distance between them. "Because I'm not going back to him."

"Because you love me." Darryl stated.

"That sounds more like a fact than a question." Sasha smiled. Darryl moved to capture her lips with his own, when the sound of a car squealing off, interrupted them!

"Goddamnit! Merle stole the car!" Darryl snapped, glaring out of the window. Sasha looked out as well.

"I don't get it! He was in no hurry to go anywhere before." Sasha said. Darryl ran for his cross bow and together, he and Sasha eased out of the cabin and looked around. They could see nothing in the darkness. Sasha strained to hear but no sounds were heard except crickets.

"We're staying here tonight. In the morning, we leave on foot, then make camp someplace." Darryl said. Sasha nodded. They went back inside and Darryl looked around. There was a kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms that he could see.

"What was Merle cooking out there?"

Sasha shrugged.

"I don't know. Some animal."

"Some animal, huh? Meaning something you wouldn't be willing to eat?"

"Oh come on, Darryl! He was going to make some kind of stew from possum and I think a crow. I'm just too worried to eat anything."

"Yeah, well, I'm going out to get the food. Then I'm bringing it back in here. Then…I'll season it if we find seasoning in that kitchen and serve you dinner. An apology dinner." he said gruffly.

Sasha touched his vest.

"You don't have to make me an 'apology dinner'. We'll figure a way out of this. Or around it." she said, kissing him quickly. She began to move away but Darryl pulled her back into his arms and kissed her possessively. Sasha felt herself melt at his touch and they fell to the floor together.

Sasha tirelessly rode Darryl's unyielding member for what seemed like hours, as he emitted lustful cries of appreciation. He could feel his organ pulsing and his world turning to fire as he held her bare hips, manipulating her further onto him.

As the lovers became lost in a storm of ecstasy, something interesting was happening back in Alexandria. Something in the form of new people looking for shelter.

An RV was outside of the gate in the darkness, and everyone was on deck to see just what the hell they were dealing with. That meant the hunt for entry points to the underground, that had not been sealed, would have to wait.

A middle aged woman, with blondish hair, climbed out. Carol, Morgan and Abraham walked to the gate, weapons raised to greet her.

Only Abraham recognized her.

"Maddie?" he asked, unsure. Madison Clark slowly lowered her hands.

"Abraham Ford? Oh my God! What are you doing down here? I thought you were living in Georgia, right? Someone told me you got married?"

"I heard you were in California." Abraham replied, lowering his gun. Carol and Morgan did not lower their weapons.

"Abraham," Morgan said calmly, "you want to tell me who this is?"

The doors to the RV opened, and a Johnny Depp looking guy, a teen with long dark hair and a black man, climbed out.

They were pointing weapons at them. Madison shook her head at them.

"Put them down. I know him."

"Yes, Madison," the black man said, "but **WE** don't know him. Or them."

"Mom," the Johnny Depp double said, "who is this guy? How do you know him?"

"He was a friend of your father's." Madison said in a hollow voice. A friend, and the reason for their father's suicide. Steven Clark could not live with the fact that Madison and Abraham, had had an affair behind his back. And while Madison was grateful to see a friendly face, she didn't want the kids knowing anything about her and Abraham.

"So…are you going to let us in?" Madison asked, smiling at Abraham. There was something about the way she looked at him, that raised Carol's suspicions.

She took over.

"You can stay parked outside of the gate until we've vetted you with Abraham." Carol said, still pointing her weapon at her. Morgan lowered his and the other residents took their cues from them. Abraham conferred with the two of them.

"Maddie is good people."

"What about the others?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know." he admitted.

"Well because you don't know, they sleep in the RV outside the gate for the night. Really, if they come in here then they need to know everything." Carol said.

"Learning about the Underground might drive them off." Morgan said. But Abraham shook his head.

"Naw. Not Maddie Clark. She doesn't run from anything." he said. Carol raised a brow, wondering if this woman outside of the gate, could be a solution to the Darryl/Sasha/Abraham triangle.


	27. Chapter 27

Dr. Jenner watched the newbies as they were let in beyond the gates of Alexandria the next morning. The older woman, Madison Clark, could potentially carry one child. Maybe. She would have to be examined to know for sure. But her teenage daughter, Alicia, looked as if she could be of some use repeatedly. Meaning at least 2-3 children. Her son, Nick, could possibly impregnate some of the females that had returned from the dead. There were more than a few that were well enough to experiment with. There was a black man with them as well, who was called 'Victor'. There was something about him that made Dr. Jenner think that he could be used to persuade the others, to go along with his plans. He didn't know why he felt that way, but he did.

He glanced over Michonne's medical exam folder. Her forced medical exam. She had given them some trouble and had to be sedated. But he could see that she had given birth to at least one child in the past and seemed able to get pregnant again.

Jenner set down her file and watched Darryl and Sasha return to the compound. His eyes studied Sasha. He had decided that she would just have to be abducted, in the middle of the night, to get her down here. Her and Alicia Clark.

Meanwhile, above ground, Darryl eyed the newcomers, just as Carol walked up to him.

"Who the hell have you let in here?" Darryl asked. Sasha's eyes fell upon Nick, who smiled at her. She smiled back, before turning to Darryl and Carol to listen in on what they were saying.

"Abraham knows them. We made them sleep in their RV over night but so far, they seem okay." Carol responded.

"I think we need continue to do what Rick would do." Darryl told her. "They need to be locked up until we know we can trust them. And Abraham's word doesn't count for shit around here anymore."

Carol folded her arms.

"Abraham more than just knows them. I think he was involved with that woman over there. The blonde. Her name is Madison."

"What does that have do with anything?" Darryl asked in a surly manner.

"It means that maybe he'll stop shooting at Sasha and you in the middle of the night, if he has someone else to focus on." Carol said, raising a brow. Sasha peered at this Madison Clark and watched Abraham push some hair away from her face.

She also noticed Nick noticing them. And she could see he didn't like it. Carl seemed to be crushing on Alicia, which Sasha could also see, was pissing Enid off. She said nothing about this as Darryl then brought up Merle.

"He kidnapped Sasha? I heard he was alive as well but no one has really seen him." Carol noted. "What does he want? He can't come here. He has to know that."

"He knows. He offered up something else, which I told him wouldn't be happening. I think we need a meeting. We've got to come up with some way to get our people back." Darryl said.

"How, Darryl? Jenner's probably watching and listening to us now. He's made his terms clear. I think we ought to take Morgan up on his offer to go down there." Carol told him. "He still seems willing to do it."

"If we start down this road, then we'll have to offer someone else up each week. Let's start letting people know we're having a meeting." Darryl said. Carol nodded.

"We can have it at my house. I have some coffee cake bars I could heat up."

Darryl raised a brow.

"Where'd you get the ingredients for that? I thought we were low on supplies?"

"I improvised." Carol said mysteriously. Darryl didn't even want to know what she meant by that! Carol walked off and he noted that Abraham and that Madison woman, were nowhere to be seen. He looked at Sasha.

"What do you think?" he asked her.

"We won't know until we start talking to them. I see Carl has made friends with that Alicia girl. Enid looks kind of ticked off about that. I feel bad for her."

"She'll live." Darryl said grimly, now eyeing Nick. "What about him?"

Sasha shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess we'll have to see if he can handle himself."

"There's something about him. I don't know what it is. He looks like trouble." Darryl said, continuing to stare until Nick looked over at them.

"He's looking over here, Darryl!"

"So? Let's go over and see what he has to say for himself."

"Why don't you go and gather everyone up for the meeting. I'll talk to him and see what I can find out."

Darryl's response to her suggestion was to lift his hand, and slowly stroke her cheek, trailing his fingers lightly across her parted lips. Her mouth was so inviting to him, that all he could think about in that moment was to taste her sweet, warm lips and…

"Hey! I'm Nick!"

Darryl slowly stopped what he was doing and looked at Nick Clark, whom he realized reminded him of a poor looking Johnny Depp or something. Sasha moved away from Darryl's touch and turned to shake hands with him.

"I'm Sasha. This is Darryl."

Darryl reluctantly shook Nick's hand.

"There's going to be a meeting. Over in that house there. There's a lot going on that everyone needs to know about."

"Besides the undead people?" Nick asked, his tone light.

Sasha could see Darryl didn't like him so she answered.

"Yes, unfortunately. And once you find out, you might not want to stay."

Nick looked around the community, before looking at Sasha again.

"I don't think we'll be going anywhere. Besides, Mom's found and old friend here, so…" he trailed off. Sasha noted his lack of enthusiasm over Abraham and glanced at Darryl, who's expression was nonchalant.

"I'd better get everyone gathered." Darryl said and walked off. Sasha turned her full attention to Nick.

"So, someone told me that you were from the South West. I won't even ask how things are there."

"About just as bad as they are here. You travel hoping against hope that maybe there's someplace in this country that didn't go to shit." Nick said casually, as he stared after Darryl for a moment, before saying something unexpected.

"So, you're with him?"

"Yes. I'm with Darryl."

"And before that, Abraham, right?"

"Wow. Someone has been doing a lot of talking around here."

"It's a small community, right?"

"It is. How does your mother know Abraham?"

"She says they're old friends from back when my dad was alive. I just think it's funny that we've never heard of him until now. I mean if he was that important, he would've been at my father's funeral."

"Well, Abraham was married by then and had kids. You know people lose touch as life moves on." Sasha said, not quite getting where they were going with this conversation.

"My mom lost her longtime boyfriend. His name was Travis. I just hope Abraham respects the fact that she needs her space. He's practically all over her." Nick grumbled.

Sasha didn't know what to say to that. It was clear that Nick was worried for his mother. And with the way Abraham had been acting lately, she couldn't honestly tell Nick that he had nothing to worry about.

"So," Nick said, moving closer to her, "is your relationship with the redneck just one of convenience?"

"Nick, it's none of your business."

"Oh come on, Sasha! I'm only asking because I'm concerned."

"You're concerned?"

"Yeah! Hell yeah, I'm concerned! Concerned that you could be doing better than him! He's kind of old, isn't he?"

"What are you talking about? Darryl is not old!"

"He's older than me!"

"So am I!"

"Well that doesn't count when you're pretty. I didn't mean to offend. I mean if you like him, more power to you. Listen, not to change the subject…"

"Please, let's." was Sasha's reply.

"What do you do around here for medical emergencies? Do you have a doctor here?"

"We did but she was killed. There is a doctor at another community we visit in emergencies."

"So you have no first aid kits or anything around here? Or pain killers? Liquor…"

"Why are you asking me that? Were you hurt?" Sasha asked, looking him over.

"No. No I'm fine and everyone with me is fine. I just wanted to know that the community we were moving in to, in a pinch, at least had antiseptic."

Sasha wasn't buying that, but she played along. She nodded towards the infirmary.

"Over there is where our medical supplies are. But for more serious injuries, we have to travel to another community." she told him as she watched his eyes take in the office that Denise used to work in.

"Okay, good to know. So I'll see you at the meeting then?"

"Yes." was all Sasha said as she watched Nick walk off for a moment, before heading over to her own house. Unfortunately, she did not realize that someone else had moved into it and was using the bed, at that very moment.

* * *

The springs of the mattress that Darryl and Sasha used to sleep in, squeaked steadily and tirelessly, until Abraham's stomach began to contort and his body, along with Madison's, bucked and shook in succession, as if they had been hit with electric shocks.

Madison was pulled out of her spectrum of passion as Abraham's body left hers, and he got out of bed. He walked over to a closet and pulled out a robe that just barely came down to his knees. He then walked over to the window and watched as Sasha began making her way towards the house. He refrained from smiling and turned to look back at Madison.

"I'm hungry. Aren't you?"

Madison sat up in bed, propped up on one elbow.

"I could use something more than the beef jerky we ate last night in the RV."

Abraham walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. He touched her face.

"I'm sorry about that, darlin'. But the others don't know you like I do. That was just a precaution. I'll whip us up something." he said and stood up. Madison smiled and sat up.

"You know, the kids never knew anything about us. They think that Steven was just depressed."

Abraham sighed.

"Maddie, none of that was our fault. Hell, the man suddenly wanted to become a late life singer! He didn't have any talent and you put up with supporting his night club acts until you couldn't. What happened with him wasn't just about the two of us."

"No. But it didn't help. I guess what I'm saying is that what happened here today, can't be a regular thing. I don't want Nick and Alicia to think that something was going on between us while I was with their father."

"They'll never hear it from me." he said softly, bending down to kiss her softly on the mouth, before leaving the room. He padded down the hallway, down the stairs and then moved to sit down on the couch. And that is where Sasha found him when she bounded inside. She stopped short, then closed the door behind her.

"What are you doing here?" Sasha asked, tensing up.

"I live here now, darlin'."

"Okay, Abraham, I'm not in the mood for your games. I'm going to give you ten minutes to go get your clothes on and leave my house!"

Abraham slowly stood up.

"And I'm telling you this isn't your house anymore. When you left with Darryl, I moved in. I have company upstairs so you might want to skiddadle."

Sasha glanced up the stairs before staring down Abraham.

"Is Nick's mother up there?"

"Oh you know Nick now?"

"I just talked to him and I know he doesn't like the idea of your being with his mother."

"What do you think about it?" Abraham asked.

"I'm leaving. If you moved in, then this place is yours. I'll find someplace else to live."

"Answer my question." Abraham responded.

"What do you want me to say? That I think it's a crappy thing to bring Madison here? Look, Darryl wants to call a meeting. We have to figure out a way to get Rick and Michonne back. We need to find out if Glen and Maggie are okay as well. So tell your new girlfriend to get dressed and join us at Carol's okay?" Sasha asked, before turning to leave.

But Abraham caught her before her hand was on the door knob, turned her around and pulled her surprised body to his. His mouth fiercely covers hers in a hard, demanding kiss that made him moan with longing.

Sasha managed to break free of him and slapped him as hard as she could!

"What is the matter with you? How many times do I have to tell you that I love Darryl now! Do you get that? I am sorry that…"

"Oh you 'love' Darryl now?!" Abraham snapped. "Let me tell you something, Miss Sasha, I'm not going to stop trying to kiss you or touching you or any goddamned thing I want with you! This is bullshit! You love Darryl! The hell you do!"

Meanwhile, Madison heard the commotion and hurriedly dressed! What the hell was Abraham going on about down there? And who was he talking to? She looked through his closet and found a short robe that hung off of her slightly, before she left the bedroom and hurried downstairs.

She found Abraham and a woman having some sort of argument. At least that's what it looked like to her. And it looked personal in some way. Sasha stared briefly at Madison, before turning and hurrying out of the house. She slammed the door behind her.

"What's going on? Who was that?"

Abraham stared at the door for a bit, before turning to face Madison.

"That's Sasha."

That was also all he said about it. Madison slowly walked towards him.

"Is there anything more I should know than just her name?"

"Darlin' we have bigger problems here. Sasha came by to tell me about a meeting we need to get to. Once you hear what's going on around here, you might not want to stick around."

* * *

Nick noticed that Sasha looked upset as she left a particular house. He fell into step with her as she huffed towards the house the meeting was at.

"Okay, you look like you're upset!"

"I really can't discuss it!" was Sasha's answer. Nick grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Okay, well, why don't you just take a deep breath then, okay? Someone's upset you, I can see that. Was it that grungy guy you go with?"

Sasha snatched her arm from Nick's!

"Darryl is not grungy! And even if he is, it's none of your damned business!" she snapped. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that his mother was whoring around with Abraham in what she still considered to be her home. But they didn't need anymore trouble around here.

"Okay, okay. I apologize. I'm sorry for caring."

"Nick…I'm sorry, okay? We just need to have a meeting so everyone understands what is going on, and what we can do about it."

"About what? I'm sorry, Sasha, but I don't get what we could be facing in a gated community that seems pretty damned safe from the undead." Nick said.

"It's not what's outside of the gates that's the problem. It's what's underneath." Sasha said and moved to go to Carol's house. Nick stared after her, just as Victor Strand joined him.

"From what I can ascertain, she is beyond taken." Victor observed.

"You mean because of Darryl?" Nick asked.

"And Abraham." Victor noted.

"There's nothing going on there." Nick said dismissively.

Victor turned to watch Madison and Abraham leave a house together and walk towards them. Nick saw it too and didn't like it. He looked at Victor again.

"I couldn't see Sasha being with him anymore than I can see her with Darryl."

"How about you stop 'seeing' her, period, Nick. Darryl looks as if he'd kill you if you even looked sideways at her, and Abraham is clearly playing some game with your mother, to get back at Sasha. I sincerely hope Madison is not that attached to this Sergeant Ford." Victor noted, before heading towards Carol's home.

Nick decided he was going to skip the meeting. He glanced towards the infirmary. He planned on seeing just what was being stocked here, in case he needed a pick me up.

* * *

"So that's where we stand now," Darryl said to a packed living room, "and we don't know what these people will throw at us next."

"So let me get this straight," Victor began, "this 'underground' is really the government that wants to bring society back to what it was. This Dr. Jenner, who is running things in this sector, has created a drug that brings people back to life that did not die from being bitten by one of the undead. But it isn't perfected and yet this man has the nerve to expect that all of us that aren't infected, will have sex with his experiments, just to see how things are working? This is a joke, right?"

"No," Darryl said in a gritty tone, "and I haven't even gotten to the part where I tell you about how he kidnapped our leader, Rick, put his face on one of his experiments with the hope of luring some of us down there."

"So it's possible that some of us may not be who we say we are?" Alicia asked in confusion, now looking over at Carl, who made it a point to sit next to her.

"No," Enid said in a snide tone, "that is not what Darryl is saying. Dr. Jenner only wants people that can influence the rest of us. If he had been successful with making us believe that an impostor was really Rick, he might have convinced us to go along with Jenner's plans. He wouldn't just kidnap anyone and put their face on someone else."

Alicia did not answer Enid's condescending tone. But she did understand what was being said.

Madison stood up.

"This is more than we bargained for. We'll probably be heading out."

Carol looked at her and spoke.

"That's your choice. But what we're saying is there is nowhere to run. if you had anyone in your group that died in a way that was not from a direct walker bite, then chances are, they are alive down below there."

Madison briefly thought of Travis, but said nothing aloud about him. Alicia spoke up again.

"Can we see this place? So that we know you're telling the truth? Because it sounds crazy."

"Then leave then, if we sound crazy." Enid told her. Carl gave her a look of surprise but didn't comment.

"Where's your son?" Darryl asked, looking around the room. "How come he didn't join us?"

"I don't know. But I'm sure he's fine wherever he is." Madison answered. Morgan took out his stick.

"Ma'am, that's not how things work around here. Especially with strangers. Maybe we need to look for him." Morgan said. Darryl nodded to him and they both walked out of the house first. Carol jumped up to follow and Madison stood up as well. Abraham stood with her.

"Nick has some problems…drug problems. He might be looking for something, if you know what I mean. He's a good kid, Abraham. Please, help me find him before someone else does. Someone who won't understand." Madison whispered him. Abraham hugged her but Sasha, who had been sitting in front of them, overheard everything. And she had a bad feeling she knew just where Nick Clark was at this moment. She slowly stood up and left as well. Her destination being the infirmary.


	28. Chapter 28

Sasha peered around Alexandria, then eased into the infirmary. She saw a small light beaming around near some glass cabinets and suspected she had found Nick. Sasha quickly closed the back door she had used to enter and whispered loudly!

"Nick?! Nick?!"

Nick turned around and flashed the beam at Sasha.

"Oh. Hey."

"Get that light out of my eyes! Is that all you have to say about this?"

Nick turned off his flashlight and gave her a look of practiced innocence.

"I don't know what you mean. I cut myself and I was looking for a bandaid."

"I heard your mother talking about you to Abraham. I know you have a problem. You can't have one **HERE** or you'll get thrown out!"

Nick grinned!

"Awww! I think that's sweet that you care. I knew we had chemistry the moment we met."

Sasha was in the midst of rolling her eyes, when the door opened and Darryl and Morgan entered. Morgan flicked on a light.

"Sasha?" Darryl asked in cool tone. "What are you doing in here with him?"

"Nick?" Morgan asked. "What's going on? Why are you in here?"

Nick shrugged.

"I needed a bandaid."

Morgan blinked in disbelief and looked at Darryl, who's eyes never left Nick's.

"You needed a bandaid? That's what you're telling us? Because the bandaids are over there. The drugs are kept where you're standing." Darryl told him.

"Oh. The bandaids are over there, aren't they? I didn't see them."

"If you'd turned on the light you would have." Darryl replied and eyed the flashlight Nick was holding. He then looked at Sasha and nodded over to a corner. Sasha followed him over to a window.

"I knew there was something about him I didn't like, from the get go. I know that look. He's getting the hell out of here." Darryl said.

"I overheard Nick's mother telling Abraham that he's struggled with drugs. He looks like he can beat this if we help him."

"Who's we?" Darryl asked suspiciously. Sasha rubbed his arm.

"Bob struggled. He struggled and we gave him a chance. I think Nick deserves one too." Sasha said in a low voice.

"That ain't the same thing." Darryl replied, his eyes roaming over her. "Bob drank because of shit he'd seen before the world went to hell. And the world changing didn't help him any. But this Nick guy…he's an addict. He can't stay here. Morgan and I will tell him to go."

Madison, Abraham and Alicia came in, followed by Carl.

"What's going on?" Abraham asked. Madison and Alicia moved to Nick's side.

"He was caught stealing drugs. Or trying to." Morgan said quietly.

"And he's leaving." Darryl said firmly.

"Well," Abraham said, "it's not like there aren't other communities he could go to. I think Ezekiel would take him in, as long as he didn't try anything there."

"Ezekiel?" Madison asked. "Who's that?"

But Nick spoke up.

"Okay, really, I was looking for a bandaid. That's it. I've had problems in the past with drugs. I'm not denying that. But the world turning to shit cured me, okay? I don't need to go anywhere else and I'm not going to be a problem." Nick said.

"Okay. Then prove it." Darryl said. "Stay in one of our cells for 30 days. If you look like you aren't going though any shit, then you can stay here."

Madison walked up to Darryl.

"Is that really necessary? My son has just told you that he's fine! He was looking for a bandaid! Maybe we should leave!"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Darryl answered. "Get the shit you came with and be gone tomorrow morning. Carol and Morgan will take you over to the Kingdom. You'll be better off there."

"With you all?" Abraham asked, folding his arms. "The two of you do live there now, right? You're just back here to help get our people back from down under, then you're going back there yourselves?"

Sasha lived in this Kingdom? Nick wondered quietly.

"I don't want to be any trouble. I mean if I have to live in this Kingdom then I'll do it. And Sasha has been so nice to me, I'm sure she'll make me feel right at home there." Nick said, now smiling at Darryl.

Darryl did not smile back.

"You leave tomorrow and don't worry about where Sasha and I are living. That goes for you too, Abraham."

"I never said I was worried about where YOU were living, Darryl." Nick grinned. Alicia squeezed his arm to try and get him to shut up. Morgan decided to play peacemaker.

"Look, I will take Nick and whoever else wants to come with me, over to the Kingdom tomorrow morning. So if there's nothing else, we should get out of here and work on how to get our people from the underground."

"Uh, what does that mean?" Nick asked. "Some people have been kidnapped and taken underground someplace?"

"If you'd been at the meeting instead of trying to steal pills, you'd know about this." Darryl said. Madison glared at him!

"Hey! It was a misunderstanding, okay? Nothing is missing or been stolen around here, so can you just let it go? We're leaving tomorrow!" Madison snapped. Darryl walked over to her.

"I don't think it was. And we don't have rehab anymore in this world. Keep running your mouths and you can leave right now."

Abraham stepped in.

"You're out of line, Darryl. And you're not in charge around here. No one is going anywhere. We need all the help we can get if we're going to get our people back." Abraham huffed. Sasha decided to say her peace.

"You asked us here to help find out what happened to Michonne. We get here and find out that it's more than just Michonne that is missing. So we're not going anywhere. And we don't have time to worry about throwing people out of here. This whole conversation is being watched down below by someone. We need to make some decisions about how we're going to deal with Dr. Jenner, when he asks us to help with his 'experiments'." she told him.

Madison moved to Abraham's side.

"Darryl and Morgan explained what's going on. We'll help anyway we can." she said, linking her arm with Abraham's. That gesture calmed Darryl down a bit. At least Abraham seemed to have been distracted from getting Sasha back, with this Madison woman.

"Thank you." Sasha said, before everything in front of her began spinning wildly and the world went black.

* * *

When Sasha awoke, Darryl's was the first face she saw and his expression was one of deep worry. At first, Sasha could not understand why.

"Darryl? What happened? Where am I?"

"In the infirmary. Tara and Morgan went to get the doctor from the Hilltop."

"Oh. They shouldn't have wasted the trip. I'm fine." she said and began to sit up. But Darryl gently pushed her back down onto the bed.

"Just rest. It's done now. And it won't hurt to have a doctor look you over." he said, entwining his hand with hers. "Why didn't you say you didn't feel well?"

"I felt fine. I feel fine. I don't know why that happened. Really, it's probably just lack of food."

"We ate plenty at that cabin Merle was holed up in. It's not that." Darryl said, sounding worried.

"Okay, well then it's stress. That's all." Sasha said, squeezing his hand. "This place doesn't feel right without Rick and Michonne. And I feel like we can't keep searching for entry points around here."

"Let's not think about that now." he said as Carol entered the infirmary and closed the door.

"How are you?" Carol asked, walking over to them.

"I'm better. Much better. Really, I'm sorry that Morgan and Tara had to make a trip out of here."

Carol said nothing to that and looked at Darryl.

"Dr. Jenner sent some men up. He wants to examine Sasha down below. It might be quicker. And we might learn something."

"And she might not ever return!" Darryl snapped. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking about Sasha and getting her help as quick as possible! I'm thinking about finding out what happened to Rick and Michonne!"

Sasha sat up.

"Carol's right, Darryl. This is a chance. I'll go with whoever this is and get examined."

"Sasha," Darryl said forcefully, "you'll be examined for more than you expect."

"I know. And let's not talk about it anymore." Sasha said carefully. Carol and Darryl stopped talking, since they were being watched and he helped Sasha off of the bed. Carol glanced over at a glass door. There were two men, from the underground, waiting. She reluctantly walked over and let them in.

"She's ready to go." she told them. One of them, a tall guy, shrugged.

"She doesn't have to 'go' anywhere. The elevator is here in the infirmary." he told her. Darryl and Sasha both heard that!

"There's a way down below in here?" Darryl asked. He now had both arms around Sasha.

The shorter of the two responded.

"There is a way down below, everywhere."

Sasha wanted to ask if Darryl could be with her, but she knew better. Darryl could see she looked fearful and he spoke softly to her.

"I'm not going to let them keep you. You know that, right?"

Sasha nodded against him, then reluctantly let go and followed the men to a hidden elevator behind a wall cabinet! Sasha felt stupid for never checking behind it. She had no doubt that Darryl and Carol felt the same. Once she was gone, Darryl threw a stethoscope across the room! It slammed against a wall and fell.

"Do you feel better?" Carol asked calmly.

"I don't know! Do you?"

"What does that mean?!"

"You should have damned well warned us about those men, before they were up on us like that! Outside the door? We could've grabbed them and kept them up here in exchange for some of our people!" Darryl yelled.

"You think two lackeys mean **ANYTHING** to Jenner? We didn't know for sure what was wrong with Sasha and we needed help quickly! Quicker than the time it would take Morgan and Tara to get back here!"

Darryl peered at her.

"What do you mean 'we don't know for sure'? We don't know anything! Sasha said it was stress."

"Sasha's pregnant. I'd bet my life on it." Carol said sardonically. "And we've got real problems around here if she's further along than…"

Darryl pointed at her!

"Don't you say it!"

Carol folded her arms and glared back at him, just as the 'elevator' began running again, and Rick and Michonne appeared! Carol gaped at them and Darryl ran over to hug them both!

"Christ! I've never been so happy to see two people in my entire life! The only thing that could make this better is if Sasha was here." Darryl almost cried, hanging on to them for dear life. Michonne slowly disentangled herself, looking at him sympathetically as Rick continued to hold Darryl. She walked over to Carol.

"We need a meeting. Now." Michonne said.

"What is it?" Carol asked fearfully. Rick let go of Darryl and even Darryl could now see something was wrong.

"What is it? Did you see Sasha down there? Is she okay?"

Rick faced him.

"The only reason we were allowed back up here, is because Sasha came down. He knows she's pregnant already."

"You heard our conversation?" Carol asked, confused.

"Conversation?" Michonne asked.

"The one I just had with Darryl here. I was telling him I guessed Sasha was pregnant."

"I'm guessing Jenner has been watching Sasha's symptoms…I don't know how he knows. But he's got plans for Sasha and her baby." Rick said.

" **MY BABY!** " Darryl yelled and he ran towards the elevator, who's doors would not open! Rick and Michonne ran over to pull him away from the doors! Michonne got in his face!

"Listen to me! You've got to stay strong here! Jenner plans to play Abraham and you off of one another!" she said.

"What do you mean?" Carol asked quietly.

"It means, that Jenner wants both Abraham and you to get down below and screw Beth and Rosita, who's feeling much better again. And Darryl, if you can impregnate Beth first, then not only can Sasha and you leave with your baby…we can all leave. Scott free. Jenner claims he will never bother any of us again." Rick said.

"And if Abraham gets Rosita pregnant first?" Carol asked fearfully. Michonne shook her head.

"Same deal. Abraham can leave with her. And the baby…"

 **"MY BABY?** He can just leave with Sasha and my child?"

"We don't know that it won't be his!" Rick yelled.

"It's not!" Darryl yelled in response, just as Abraham and Madison walked back in. Abraham was shocked to see Rick and Michonne!

"Well hells bells! Where'd the two of you come from?" he asked. He then looked around.

"Where's Sasha?" he asked, sensing a problem.

"Who are you?" Michonne asked Madison.

"She's an old friend." Abraham told her. "She brought her son and daughter here as well. They're good people. Now where's Sasha?"

"Gone." was Darryl's reply.

"What the fuck do you mean, 'gone'? She was laying up in here unconscious the last I looked!" Abraham huffed.

"Morgan and Tara went for a doctor," Madison said carefully, "so where is she?"

No one said anything at first, but Michonne could see he was about to explode so she talked.

"We need to have a meeting."

"We just had one! Spit it out, Michonne!"

Michonne walked up to him.

"Dr. Jenner let us go so that he could bring Sasha down below to examine her. You know…because she was unwell."

Madison was suspicious. Especially when she saw the expressions on everyone else's faces.

"What does this Dr. Jenner think is wrong with her? Was she bitten?" Madison asked.

"We don't know." Rick lied. And for that, Darryl was grateful. But he knew this couldn't be kept secret and he touched Rick's arm before speaking up.

"Dr. Jenner thinks Sasha is pregnant. And in exchange for allowing Sasha and I to raise our baby in peace, and allowing all of us to live our lives without running across the underground, I have to have sex with Beth and get her pregnant." Darryl told him.

Abraham stared at Darryl, then looked around until his eyes focused on Rick.

"How far along does Jenner think Sasha is?"

Rick rubbed his head.

"Abraham don't."

"Don't? Answer my fucking question! How. Far. Along. Is. She?"

"It could be **WAY** far back." Carol said not looking at Rick or Darryl when they glared at her.

"Meaning this child could be mine! Were any of you going to fucking tell me that?!"

"Abraham," Michonne said, "the same deal was extended to you. If you have sex with Rosita…"

"Rosita?! Rosita who pukes up ashes now?"

"She's better. So is Beth." Rick said. "We saw them both. They don't know about any of this."

Abraham turned and huffed out of the infirmary. Madison followed after him!

"Abraham! Abraham, would you wait?!" she yelled. Abraham stopped suddenly and Madison got in front of him.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I want my child."

"And Sasha, right?" Madison asked. "Look, I'm a big girl. And we were never a love match here."

"If Sasha is having my baby, this changes everything between us. She won't be able to run away from me. And Darryl won't be able to be with her knowing she's having my baby."

"Okay I think you need to go back in there and find out what they're not saying."

"What do you mean?" Abraham asked.

"Abraham, what sense does that story make? If you get this Rosita pregnant, you get to what? Leave with Sasha and possibly Darryl's child? This offer makes no sense and you stormed out of there before you could ask anymore questions." Madison told him.

Abraham nodded.

"You're right. You're always right, Maddie. I'm so glad you're here. I don't think I could go through this alone."

Madison gave him a quick kiss, before walking back to the infirmary with him. Nick, who was on a porch nearby, heard the whole conversation and grimaced! God, he hoped Sasha wasn't having Darryl **OR** Abraham's baby! She could do better than both of them.

Nick looked around at every house and structure in Alexandria. He was going to find his own way below to see Sasha and find out if she was really alright. It wasn't like he had anything else to do, thinking about how close he had been to getting something good out of that drug cabinet in the infirmary, before Sasha stopped him. Sasha. Sasha had not wanted him to get caught by the others and tried help him.

Now he was going to try and help her.


	29. Chapter 29

Dr. Jenner rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. He could not believe what he was hearing. He was on speaker phone with a high ranking member of the shadow, underground government, who was setting up shop in Washington.

"You're sure?" Dr. Jenner asked, hoping he would hear a different answer than he had originally heard.

"I'm sorry, Edwin. I wish I could give you better news. But once it's over and the damage is done, we can begin in your sector again."

"Sir, you don't know how long I've been working on this. I have to now abandon this because of an earthquake?"

"I think that's a no brainer, Edwin. Get yourself and your people out of there. All of the residents are expendable. You said yourself that they were being uncooperative."

"Things were turning around." Edwin said tonelessly.

"Well just get out of there. And…"

"What?"

"Your 'experiments'…leave them behind as well." the voice instructed him. Dr. Jenner suddenly sat up in his chair.

"Leave them behind?"

"Yes. Leave them. Get yourself and your staff…"

"Many of my staff **ARE** the experiments!" Dr. Jenner snapped, thinking of Beth. He didn't like what was going to happen between her and Darryl Dixon. The idea of her being touched by someone that did not love her, made him sick. But it had to be done. And Beth did not seem to mind. It made it easier for Dr. Jenner to bear.

"Edwin, " the official said, "there will be new people to work with. We received your lab results and we think we can pinpoint what the weakness is in your formula. But in order to rectify it, we need fresh subjects. We can't keep using the same people."

"You're saying you don't think I can actually bring the people I've worked on, to a full 100% human rate?"

"No. Nor can any of them breed. You have ten hours. Get what you can on to the underground trains."

Dr. Jenner stood up.

"And I suppose you're leaving it to me to explain all of this to everyone?"

The voice snorted!

"Edwin, if you're stupid enough to tell the experiments, and the residents in that sector, that you are leaving them to die, then by all means, have at it! I would suggest you don't. Again, you have ten hours."

The line disconnected and Dr. Jenner sighed with a heavy heart. Beth walked into the room, suddenly, wearing a business skirt suit.

"Dr. Jenner? What's wrong?" she asked in a soft voice. Dr. Jenner turned to look at her, regret pouring out of his facial features.

"Why there's nothing wrong, Beth. Why would you say that?"

Beth stared at him before answering.

"Because clearly something is wrong. What is it? Will…will what is supposed to happen with Darryl not take place?" she asked quietly.

"There will be…" Dr. Jenner began and then an idea came over him. A truly horrible lie. He reached out and touched Beth's shoulders.

"I am being called to Washington. I sent some of my findings to a lab there and they think they have pinpointed what is happening. I need to leave immediately and take some staff. The point is, **YOU** will be in charge down here."

Beth's eyes widened!

"Dr. Jenner! I couldn't…"

"Beth, you're the only one I trust. You can see your liaison with Darryl Dixon through or not. The same goes for what is supposed to happen between Abraham and Rosita." Dr. Jenner told her gently, now touching her face.

Beth nodded against his hand but still sensed all was not right. He then removed his hand from her face and left the room. Beth folded her arms and thought about what Dr. Jenner had just told her. **SHE** was now in charge of this place until he returned.

One of Dr. Jenner's staff members walked in and began unplugging things. Beth frowned.

"Excuse me? I'll need the cameras on. So I can watch what's going on above." she informed the man. The official, aware the Beth was an 'experiment', nodded and pretended as if she was going to actually live long enough to be in charge over a long period of time.

"Sure." was all he said and turned to leave the room. Beth stared after him for a bit, before disappearing into her own head. Darryl would be coming down here soon. And he was only going to be with her so that he could be with Sasha and their supposed unborn child.

But Beth was not convinced that the child was Darryl's. And neither was Rosita.

* * *

Sasha had been thoroughly examined and was not very happy about it. She had fallen asleep and awakened to find Rosita staring down at her! And she didn't especially look friendly! Sasha couldn't blame her…

"Hello." Rosita said, her arms crossed. Her tone was full of attitude too.

"Rosita." Sasha replied, carefully sitting up. Rosita was standing, her gaze piercing.

"Why are you here?" Sasha asked, no longer in any kind of civil mood.

"I'm a walker, remember? Dr. Jenner is trying to cure me but it isn't working."

"I meant what are you doing in this room with me?" Sasha asked curtly.

"I heard about your pregnancy. I lost my baby, did you know that? Or were you too busy screwing Darryl to care?"

"I'm sorry, Rosita."

"I threw the baby up! Did you know that? **THREW HIM UP**! He was a boy! My son! Mine and Abraham's son!"

Sasha said nothing. She just decided to let her vent and pray the woman didn't kill her somehow. Rosita began to slowly pace the room.

"But you're having a baby. Maybe it's Darryl's. Maybe it's Abraham's."

Sasha stared at her, hardly breathing!

"I'm pregnant? Dr. Jenner said that?"

Rosita didn't answer that.

"I know you're with Darryl now. If the baby is Abraham's, you won't want the baby or him. If the baby is Abraham's, I want you to give the child to me."

Sasha kept calm.

"This baby is not Abraham's."

"Because you don't want it to be his?"

"Because it's not!" Sasha snapped. "Get out of here!"

Sasha then got up off of the bed and looked around. She was wearing a robe and her clothes were hanging in a closet. The door was partially open and she could see them. She slid off of the bed and walked over there.

"Where do you think you're going?" Rosita asked. "And I asked you a question!"

"Look, bitch, even if this baby is Abraham's, which it is not, I wouldn't give him or her to you! And if you think that my baby is a way to get Abraham back, think again! He's hooked up with someone else now!"

"He's hooked up with someone else to pass the time. But I'm sure his end game is you." Rosita said bitterly, just as Beth walked in. Sasha was grateful to see her!

"Beth, I did what was agreed upon. Now I want to get dressed and go back up to Alexandria."

Beth nodded.

"You did and I'll escort you above. Maggie and Glen are back up there as well. You do know what will happen though, right?"

Sasha stared at Beth, uncomprehending.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you know what will happen once you return above?" Beth asked softly. Sasha frowned.

"I'm going to tell Darryl that he's going to be a father. Then we'll live our lives." she said, confused. Rosita grinned and turned away. Beth sighed.

"Sasha, Dr. Jenner and much of his staff have been called away. I am in charge of the Underground. So I am going to follow out Dr. Jenner's plans."

"Which are?" Sasha asked, her eyes on Rosita, who was grinning like a crazed clown!

"Procreation is important if civilization is ever to recover from what happened. Darryl and Abraham will be coming down here to make sure that Rosita and I can have children."

Sasha backed back!

"Wh…what?!" she stammered! "Beth…what are you saying?"

Rosita was about to say it out loud, but Beth put a halting hand up.

"Abraham is in the assigned room already. Go to him. I'll handle this." she said firmly. Rosita nodded at her, then looked at Sasha as if she wanted to say something more, but turned and left. Beth slowly turned her attention back on Sasha.

"I am going to have sex with Darryl. Rosita is going to have sex with Abraham. If I get pregnant from our encounter, you will be allowed to live in peace, with Darryl and your baby. If Rosita gets pregnant first, then Abraham and you can live in peace with your baby. Without any interference from the Underground."

"What are you talking about?! Darryl would never agree to this! Never! And if Abraham gets Rosita pregnant, that has nothing to do with me!"

"Your test results show you're a little over six weeks pregnant. I'm guessing that makes it unclear as to who the father of your child is. Once he or she is born, we will know more."

Sasha turned away feeling sick to her stomach. She could feel Beth's eyes on her.

"You want to do this, don't you? Sleep with Darryl?"

"I had hopes for us, yes."

Sasha turned back to her!

"And if you conceive and it's his? You're just going to leave him alone to live his life with me?"

"Sasha, I don't believe your baby is Darryl's. I just don't. And I know Darryl. He wouldn't want to raise Abraham's child as long as Abraham is living with him at Alexandria. Factor in that Abraham is going to want you and the baby…"

"You don't want to believe that my baby is Darryl's, that's what's going on here! I'm going to go and find him and tell him that he doesn't have to do this!" she snapped. "Now get out of here so I can get dressed!"

Beth turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. What she needed right now, more than anything, was to talk with Maggie. She closed her eyes and leaned against the door.

She opened them again and saw Carol and another woman, walking towards her. Behind them, some of the staff were carrying a large amount of files. Beth was too distracted by Carol to concentrate on the oddness of their actions. She hugged Carol tightly.

"It's so good to see you again! Dr. Jenner has left me in charge down here and all I'm doing is upsetting people." Beth admitted.

"Honey, it's an upsetting situation." Carol soothed her. Madison noticed someone using a hand truck to remove a whole file cabinet!

"Hi, I'm Madison Clark. What's going on down here? Are you moving to another location or something?" she asked, peering around.

"Yeah, Madison and I saw a couple of men moving some kind of equipment." Carol said. Beth shook her head.

"They'll only be gone temporarily. Dr. Jenner said some of the scientists in Washington have figured out why his treatments don't seem to be working." Beth revealed. Carol nodded but Madison frowned.

"If they're not working, then this while thing with Abraham and Darryl is a waste of time, isn't it?" Madison noted.

"We don't know that for sure." Beth said, eyeing her. "You're new, right?"

"Yes, I came here with my son, daughter and a friend. We knew Abraham, a long time ago."

Beth suddenly took in the two women.

"Are you down here for support? Do you think that Darryl and Abraham need it? I'm that repulsive to Darryl?"

"No!" Carol said soothingly. "But this will be hard on Darryl and Sasha. Where is she?"

Suddenly the door opened and Sasha hurried out, then stopped short when she saw Carol and Madison!

"What are you two doing down here?" she asked.

"Darryl and Abraham are here. Darryl is conflicted and Abraham is pissed off. We thought we'd come and give them some support." Carol said.

"Support while they have sex with other women?" Sasha asked sarcastically. "This isn't happening!"

"You know, Sasha," Beth said, feeling her temper flare, "there was something between Darryl and I before I was shot! Maybe that is what has brought him down here!"

"I lived with the two of you at the prison, remember?! I don't remember seeing anything between you two!"

"We were together after the Governor invaded," Beth said calmly, "and we connected and bonded."

"How?!" Sasha asked sarcastically.

"Okay," Carol said, calling the argument to a halt, "what's done is done. Darryl and Abraham have agreed to Dr. Jenner's terms. And I think it's strange that he suddenly has to leave when he insisted on this whole thing happening."

Sasha walked off and and began flinging open doors! She had to find Darryl! She had to tell him he didn't need to do this! She began running down hallways and opening up doors, right and left but found nothing in them! Not even furniture. Before the emptiness of the rooms could register with her, someone grabbed her arm!

Sasha whirled around and found Nick!

"Nick? What are you doing down here? Get of here before you're kept here against your will!"

"I thought you could use some help. Something is going on down here."

"Yeah, it is! Darryl and Abraham have to have sex with two women that are essentially dead! I have to stop Darryl from going through with it!"

"That's not what I mean! These 'Underground' people are clearing out of here and leaving us behind." Nick said. Sasha frowned.

"What do you mean? Beth said they were going to Washington for a bit then returning?"

"Why the hell do you have to take furniture out of here if it's only temporary? They have some kind of subway thing in a tunnel and they're stuffing couches and suitcases on it. I'm telling you, something is going down." Nick told her. Sasha finally listened to him. She opened the door she was next to and noticed not a stick of furniture.

"All of the rooms down this hall look like this." Sasha said. "But they didn't used to."

"Sasha, these people are trying to escape. And if they need to leave, then we do too." he said firmly. Sasha nodded quickly.

"Okay…let's find Darryl and the others before it's too late." she said and both she and Nick ran down a hallway. A hallway that would lead them far away from the rooms Darryl and Abraham would be using.

* * *

Darryl and Abraham wore black, silk robes that read 'Underground Testing' on the back of them.

They wore nothing underneath.

They were sitting in separate, plush blue gray chairs in an empty room. On each wall, was a door that lead to a room with a bed in it. Staff would be monitoring what took place during copulation. Abraham looked over at Darryl, who seemed to be staring straight ahead.

"Beth and you ever fuck before she died?" he asked.

Darryl didn't answer him. Abraham kept staring at him.

"I'm just trying to break the tension of the moment."

Now Darryl looked at him.

"There's no tension. Neither Beth or Rosita are meant to be alive. Just like Shane wasn't. My brother will turn to dust one day too. I'm only doing this once. And then Sasha and I are leaving."

"You're telling me this, why?"

"I'm telling you this so you understand that we're expecting a child. I've given you your last warning to leave her the hell alone." Darryl told him.

"You're running because you know it's mine. And there ain't going to be anywhere you can go that I won't find Sasha or our baby." Abraham told him.

Darryl stood up and looked down at him.

"Sasha never wanted me to kill you. I'm not putting her or our child through being chased down by you for the rest of our lives." he told him. Abraham stood up as well to answer the threat, just as the door opened and Rosita walked in. She closed the door.

"Hi Darryl." she said softly. Darryl nodded to her. She looked just as alive as all the others. Only she wasn't. Not really.

"Beth will be meeting you on the room on the left." Rosita told Darryl. She then pulled off the sweater she was wearing, the action causing her braless breasts to bob slightly, before dropping her jeans and stepping out of them. She had not worn underwear. Soon her shoes were removed and she turned to saunter off towards the door on the right.

Darryl watched Abraham's reaction to her nudity and could see it had affected him. Oddly, Darryl had felt nothing. This whole thing was a science experiment to him. Abraham followed her through the door and closed it behind him. He found Rosita staring at the bed. Abraham dropped his robe and walked up behind her, his hands splaying her waist. She turned and wrenched out of his hold!

"Jenner had to practically bribe you to come down here! Where were you this whole time?!" she snapped. Neither of them knew that on the other side of one of the walls, were two staff members monitoring the whole thing, along with Madison, who was worried for Abraham. It pissed her off that no one seemed to be taking his side or his feelings, into consideration here.

"Darlin', once the baby died, it was over. It was over before that. I had intended on doing right by you…"

Rosita slapped his face!

"You owe me a baby! Sasha isn't going to want hers if it's yours! We both know that!"

"Sasha will want her baby no matter who the father is," Abraham said softly, "now can we get this over with?"

"Get it over with?! Who is this new bitch that you're with up above? I know there's someone new."

"How about you don't call her a bitch and we can get this done?!" Abraham snapped back. Rosita walked up to him until her breasts touched his chest.

"Who the hell are you to be angry? Really? You lost Sasha because you blamed her for what happened to me. And you blamed her because you still love me and you couldn't hide that from Sasha! It will never work with her or anyone else…"

Abraham suddenly pulled her to him and kissed her hard, bruising her lips, but Rosita didn't care! The anger she felt for him fueled her passions and she kissed him back intensely, before they both fell to the floor! Abraham was angry too, but unfortunately for Rosita, he was not seeing her.

He was seeing Sasha.

Abraham moaned before spreading Rosita's legs with his hips and entering her with a lunging thrust! Rosita cried out and clung to his wide back, as Abraham thrust into her hard and deep three more times, before picking up the pace and slamming into her relentlessly with the speed of a woodpecker! The deafening sound of their bodies slapping together loudly, were canceled out by Rosita's moaning cries mingled with Abraham's almost lustful growling. He was seeing Sasha under him. He hated that she'd left him for Darryl, but he wanted her as much he tried not to.

Madison watched the their sex act like a witness to a car accident. She could not look away. She glanced at the officials that were monitoring the whole event and noted that they were writing on clipboards. Maybe she and Carol had been wrong about everyone trying to leave? It did seem as if other people were here still.

Madison looked back in the room and saw Abraham collapse on top of Rosita, who smiled.

"I love you." she said, before collapsing into dust. Madison screamed and Abraham jumped up, looking horrified! The monitors hurried out of the observation room and Madison followed after them. The door to the room opened and Madison ran into Abraham's arms to hold him. She couldn't imagine how she would have felt if she had had to do that with Travis.

Meanwhile, in the other room, Darryl sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Beth, who was naked. Her long hair covered her breasts and she stood against the door. They had just entered the room.

"I know this isn't what you planned. I know you think I'm dead and a lost cause."

Darryl just stared at her.

"I don't want you to suffer, Beth. You deserve better than that."

"And you think I'm suffering by being alive?"

Darryl said nothing at first. Then he spoke.

"You're coughing up dust. Throwing up dust. Yeah, I think you're suffering."

Beth slowly moved towards him. She walked up to him and shyly touched his bare chest.

"I want…I want the gentleness you show Sasha when you make love to her."

"You've seen us?" Darryl asked in a low voice.

"No," she said truthfully, "I wouldn't do something like that. But I've accepted the fact that our time has passed. I just want, for this moment, the same tenderness and passion you show her, from you." Beth said in an almost pleading tone. Darryl stared at her and suddenly, she became Sasha.

He took her face within his hands and kissed her tenderly, his mouth parting hers in a searching manner. Beth felt her blood flow through her body and she kissed him back, almost hungrily. Darryl stopped kissing her and picked her up and carried her the short distance to the bed, laying her down on it gently. They laid together, side by side, facing one another until Darryl s brushed his hand across her breasts, then cupped one, squeezing it softly.

"Oh Darryl" Beth breathed, before collapsing into dust! Darryl jumped up in shock, just as the monitors, Carol, followed by Sasha and Nick hurried in!

"He didn't even begin copulation and she de-stabilized!" one monitor exclaimed. Sasha looked at the monitor, then ran to Darryl, who pulled her tightly to him! Carol, who knew she shouldn't have been watching, but did, was just as shocked. All Darryl did was touch her! Carol had hugged her earlier and she was still alive then? What the hell happened?

Nick wasn't buying any of this shit! Darryl was butt assed naked here and there was a pile of dust in the bed. Clearly he'd been too much for this 'Beth' and she died.

"You're going to tell me that this 'Beth' turned dust before Darryl could do anything to her?" Nick asked skeptically. Darryl suddenly noticed he was there and set Sasha away from him!

"What are you doing down here?!"

"I'm here for Sasha. Her boyfriend was going to fuck a zombie and I thought she'd need support." Nick said matter-of-factly. Sasha got in between them!

"That's enough, Nick! Nothing happened and Beth was a friend of ours. Once. Can we just get out of here!"

"You're actually buying this?" Nick asked again. One of the monitors looked at him.

"Nothing happened, sir. Mr. Dixon was about to begin and he squeezed her breasts. Then she died."

" **OH**! So something did happen? What did she die of fright or something?"

Darryl jumped on Nick, which Nick himself did not appreciate since Darryl was still naked! The monitors and Carol pulled them apart. Sasha was distracted by the sight of Madison and Abraham, out in the hallway. They both looked upset.

Rosita must have died too.

Sasha turned back to the group. Darryl was getting dressed and Nick was breathing heavily. She walked up to the monitors.

"How did you two come to be down here?"

"What do you mean?" one of them asked.

"I mean, were you like Beth? Brought back from the dead? Or were you like us?"

The other monitor looked grim but answered.

"We were brought back from the dead. It's just as important to us than anyone, that Dr. Jenner comes up with a real cure in Washington."

Carol saw Madison and Abraham out in the hallway and walked out to talk to them. Sasha looked at Nick and moved over in a corner with him, something Darryl noticed.

"Did you hear that?" Sasha asked.

"Yeah," Nick said in a low voice, "they've been left behind. I bet you every person that's still here, was experimented on. We need to case this place and find out why the hell Dr. Jenner and his **LIVE** crew got the hell out of dodge."

Sasha nodded quickly!

"Okay, I'll meet you in the security room."

Nick nodded, gave Darryl a look of disdain and walked out. He spoke to Madison before walking off. Madison looked at Abraham and Carol, and the three of them followed after him. Darryl, now dressed, walked over to her.

"What was that all about?" he asked tensely. He was still trying to shake off what happened.

"I think Jenner and the members of his staff that are actually alive, have left this place. I don't think there was any need for this to have happened." Sasha said. "I don't know what's going on…"

"We're leaving here. We're going back to the Kingdom."

Sasha bit her lip and reached up to cup his face.

"Darryl, there is something else going on here. And if it's as bad as I think it is, the Kingdom won't be far enough for us to run."

"Fine. We're expecting a baby. We'll go even further. Madison and her goddamned son came from out West. We go that way." Darryl told her.

"You're serious? You don't even want to stay and find out what's going on? I don't think we should just leave."

"I had to pretend Beth was you to get as far as I did," Darryl blurted out, "and then she just died. That's not happening, Sasha. We're getting out of here."

Sasha was stunned to hear that confession. She turned and walked over to the door. She closed, then locked it, before taking off her clothing. Darryl hurriedly shed his own clothing and sat down on the edge of the bed as Sasha slowly walked towards him. This baby was theirs. And suddenly, leaving this place seemed like the right thing to do.

Darryl reached out to grasp her by the waist and impaled her upon his erect length. She gasped as if it was the first time he had ever entered her and closed her eyes, reveling in how he stretched and filled her. Darryl's hips began to slowly roll and thrust beneath her and he moved his hands down to cup her film, tense buttocks. They soon found a rhythm and Sasha felt great heat building up inside of her from just the weight of his pulsing root, within her.

Darryl moaned as he felt her body increasingly tighten and throb around his member. The sensation increased in pleasure until he could no longer restrain himself. Thrusting upward, he drove aggressively into her eager warmth repeatedly until they were both engulfed in a flood of ecstasy.

After, they dressed wordlessly. There was no need to say anything. They were going to pack their things up and leave. Darryl walked over to the door, opened it, looked both ways and reached back for Sasha's hand. She smiled at him and took it, walking out of the room with him. As they headed towards the security room, Darryl slipped a heavy arm around her waist and prepared himself to tell the others that they had no interest in trying to stop whatever Jenner was up to.

An hour had passed. None of them knew they now had nine hours left to live.


	30. Chapter 30

**SIX DAYS LATER**

The destruction of Alexandria had been sneaky, underhanded, murderous and vile.

Sasha and Darryl had found the underground subway system that had been used for travel. A train had just pulled back into a station, one on which Dr. Jenner and many of his people, had conveniently left on. Darryl decided that using it might get them to someplace where Sasha could get medical care.

Abraham didn't like the idea, but Nick didn't think it would be a bad idea if they ALL got on board the train and looked for other strongholds. He reasoned that there could be other places with much more than Alexandria had.

Carol refused to leave. She was rightfully suspicious of the Jenner exodus but she also didn't want to leave King Zeke behind. Darryl was irritated by her arguing. He told her that he didn't know where this train contraption would take them, or if it would return to this location after they got off of it.

Carol gave him a steely look in response and Darryl realized there was no arguing with her. She returned above ground to Alexandria, along with Nick, Abraham and Madison, who had decided to come along with them on the train. The few workers that were left behind didn't appear as if they were going to stop them in anyway from using their resources, and went about their business in the underground. That made Sasha wonder if they really had to leave at all? After all, if the workers left behind didn't seem worried, was there really anything to worry about?

Then, Darryl did something that would haunt Sasha for the end of her days. He waited until he was sure everyone had went back up to Alexandria, before grabbing her and hurrying her to the trains! He told her he never wanted anyone but Carol to come with them, and that they were leaving ALONE!

She knew it was Abraham they were running from. And to be honest, she wasn't sure she wanted to take a train ride to God knows where, with him on board. But Nick was a different story. Nick didn't deserve to be left behind like this and she told Darryl that. Nick or any of their other people in Alexandria.

Darryl swore that he would make sure, if they could, to send the train back for everyone. Sasha reluctantly went along with this, though by Darryl's own admission, he didn't know if once they got off, the train would return here. They were taking so many chances and leaving a lot of their possessions behind. But if Darryl wanted it this way, Sasha was willing to go along with it.

They got in on the front of the subway train and Darryl could see that there were items that others had left behind. He hurried up where the conductor would be and began to try and figure out the controls, while Sasha settled into a plush chair and picked up a file left behind. She opened it and looked at the words.

 **IF ANYONE ELSE TRIES TO USE THIS TRAIN BESIDES UNDERGROUND PERSONNEL, IT WILL CAUSE AN EARTHQUAKE.**

Sasha blinked, unable to think she was reading what she was seeing, right. Meanwhile, Darryl figured out how to start the train car and it began to move slowly. Sasha stood up, grabbed the folder and made her way to where he was.

"Darryl! I found this in one of the chairs and…"

Suddenly, the train lurched to a screeching halt and began to shake! Everything happened so fast, the chunks of concrete and dirt that piled down on top of the train, sinking it in. The lights going out, the dust in the air and finally, total blackness, as something hard hit Sasha and knocked her out. The only other thing she vaguely remembered, was someone that looked like herself, staring down at her through the rubble.

When Sasha awoke, she could not ascertain her surroundings. She was in some kind of hospital. But as Sasha slowly sat up, she realized this was not a regular hospital. It looked like a medical unit of some sort. She glanced out of the window and saw it was night.

Sasha then grew very still. It took her moments before she could slowly slide off of the bed and make her way to the window.

No, it was not night.

The outdoors looked like space. Or how space had looked in movies and TV! Frightened out of her damned mind, Sasha looked around for her clothes and found that besides the paper thin gown she was wearing, there were robes that looked futuristic or something! Where the hell was she? Where the hell were Darryl and the others?

A door slid open( **SLID OPEN**!), and Deanna Munroe walked in, wearing some sort of robe as well. It had an emblem on it.

"Deanna? What is going on? How are you alive?" Sasha asked, backing back. "Where are we?"

Deanna reached for her hands.

"Sasha, I have a lot to explain to you."

Sasha pulled her hands from Deanna's!

"Where are we? Is that…outside out there, is that fake?"

"No. We are in space. We are on a starship called 'Discovery'."

"A starship?" Sasha asked skeptically. "What are you talking about? Where is everyone? Is everyone from Alexandria here too?"

"No." Deanna said cryptically. "Just you. You were the only one left alive."

Sasha backed away from her, just as Negan, of all people, walked in as well. He too was wearing some kind of futuristic looking robe.

"Hey there, Sasha Sunshine! I bet you thought you'd never see me again!" he beamed.

Sasha stared at him for a long while, before looking at Deanna again.

"So were Rick and Michonne in on this joke? Because I was told by them, that they killed the both of you."

"No, they thought they had. But of course Dr. Jenner was able to help. And the scientists aboard this ship were able to figure out the missing components so that we could be completely human again."

"That's right," Negan said, looking around, "no more barfing up ashes or not eating people food."

Sasha didn't know what to think! Clearly, something very advanced was at work here, but she didn't understand the 'why'.

"I saw a note in a folder before the earthquake. Someone tried to warn us about using that subway train in the underground…"

"Yeah," Negan said casually, as he began picking up stuff and looking at it in the room, "that probably was someone that knew you all were going to die. Not that it mattered."

Sasha peered at Negan.

"What does that mean?"

Deanna answered.

"It means that there was going to be an earthquake anyway, even if Darryl Dixon had not tried to start that train." she said plainly. Negan watched Sasha's face as that realization hit her.

"Dr. Jenner caused that earthquake? It didn't just happen out of the blue?"

"No." Deanna said, her mouth looking tight. "It was decided that Alexandria was a lost cause."

"You all didn't seem up to 'getting with the program'", Negan said, "so it was decided…"

"To kill us?! Just because we didn't want to screw zombies? That's what you're telling me? You're telling me that **EVERYONE** except for me, is dead? Darryl, Abraham, Nick…"

"Your three boyfriends," Negan said, walking up to her, "are gone. But the babies you're carrying, aren't."

"Babies?!" Sasha asked, shocked. It was then that the door opened and a man walked in in a blue military style uniform. Sasha noticed it had the same emblem that was on Deanna and Negan's robes. Her eyes went from the man, to a woman, who was also wearing a uniform—and her face!

Sasha then slipped into a dead faint.

* * *

When Sasha awoke this time, she was still in the medical looking room. A doctor was standing over her(or at least Sasha guessed he was one) and he was very chatty…

"I'm Doctor Culber. I knew it was a stupid idea to send your 'twin' in to see you. But of course, on this ship, everyone thinks they know better than me."

Sasha just stared at him and let him ramble on.

"You know, Miss Williams, your pregnancy is somewhat rare."

Sasha found her voice.

"How is a pregnant woman rare?"

"Well…i didn't say a woman being pregnant was rare. Just yours. You have two different fathers for each child. Both are girls by the way."

Sasha would've fainted again if she wasn't already lying down! Darryl and Abraham. So if Abraham had lived, he would've had every right to be in her life, someway, somehow. Sasha looked away from Dr. Culber, just as Captain Gabriel Lorca entered. Dr. Culber nodded to him and left the room. Captain Lorca stood over her.

"I'm sorry about before, Miss Williams. Believe me, you aren't the only one that's been shocked by the resemblance you have to my science officer."

"She was there, right? When you pulled me out of the rubble? What is going on?" Sasha asked, feeling anxious. Captain Lorca covered her hand with his own.

"Just relax. Just know that you're safe. And your children, and yourself, will be well looked after here."

"Everyone is gone? Did you check the other communities in the area?" Sasha asked, still unable to process that she was the only one that survived the man made earthquake.

"Sasha, may I call you by your first name?" Captain Lorca asked. Sasha nodded.

"You had maybe a day left before you too, would have been gone. The damage was catastrophic. There are people that we did not find. We went on the congress woman's list of who should have been there."

"So they could still be alive? Did you find Darryl Dixon? Or Abraham Ford? Or even Nick Clark?"

Captain Lorca patted her arm.

"Just rest." he told her before leaving the room. Outside, Sasha's look alike, science officer Michael Burnham, fell into step with the captain.

"Well?" Michael asked.

Captain Lorca stopped to sign something from an officer, before turning to her.

"Well, what? I should be asking you why Sasha Williams looks like you."

"Sir, we have traveled into the past to find the origin of those spores. We discovered that while they have worthy properties on other planets, when they were unleashed on Earth, something off putting happened."

"Yeah, the dead walking around is about as off-putting as it gets." Captain Lorca said sardonically. "I'd like to know why this only appeared to happen on Earth and nowhere else."

"I would too. Did you tell her about her daughters? How important they would become?"

"No. We've went against the Prime Directive about as much as we can get away with." Lorca said.

"I disagree. We did not interfere in anyway. We are not going to change anything. But we could not allow the future to be in such peril by allowing Sasha Williams to die. I have watched recordings of the group Miss Williams was with, as they were trying to survive. I do not think Dr. Jenner handled his part well at all." Michael said firmly.

"No one does, Officer Burnham. Believe me, I doubt Dr. Jenner will have a place in this story anymore." Lorca said before walking away. Michael turned to stare back at Sasha's closed door. There was one more unpleasant surprise she had to learn about.

* * *

Sasha was staring out of the window and looking out at space, when she heard her door open. She had been grateful that she had been left alone, for the most part, so she could process what was happening. Or what had been happening this whole time.

This advanced world, in the form of a ship, had known what was going on on Earth the whole time and did nothing to help! At least that's the way she saw it. She had lost her brother, Bob, Abraham, Darryl and everyone else that she had ever cared about or loved, because these people just…

And Deanna and Negan knew about this? They had to have! But worse yet, there was an actual cure for this 'walker virus' and no one seemed interested in going back to Earth and helping infected people there! She had accepted the fact that she was probably being abducted, to some ungodly place.

She turned to face the person that had entered and didn't recognize him—at first. And that was because his trademark, gray dreads were no more…

"King Ezekiel?" Sasha asked, surprised to see him in a uniform.

"Yes," he said somberly, "but my real name is…"

"Do I look like I give a damn? What is this? You were with these people the whole time? Is Carol with you?"

"My name is Zain Mensah. I am a Starfleet officer. My assignment was to go to Earth and integrate during the apocalypse." he said in an unapologetic tone.

Sasha shook her head and looked him up and down!

"Seriously? So you were safe on this ship with the earthquake hit?"

Zain walked towards her.

"The earthquake only happened at Alexandria. Nowhere else."

Sasha tilted her head.

"Oh my God. We really were being punished for going against Jenner, weren't we?" she asked more of herself than anyone else.

"Sasha, your world changed because of something that was released on to the planet. I can't go into the how or why, but it became clear that your children would perish in that environment if you were not pulled out of there. Dr. Jenner did not know the full extent of your importance. Neither did Negan or Deanna."

"But you did?" Sasha asked bitterly. "And since you all have lied about so much, how do I even know that everyone else is dead?"

"You don't." Zain said bluntly. "You will be relocated someplace else. Someplace safe until we can fix what has happened in someway."

Sasha said no more and 'Zain', turned to leave. Sasha said one more thing before he walked out.

"Did you ever love Carol?"

Zain paused in the doorway. He shook his head and walked off. The doors closed and Sasha turned back towards the window. So…the point of this was to get her off of the planet. For all she knew, everyone was still alive and looking for her.

She had to go back.

Sasha closed her eyes. She would stay with these people and pretend to go along to get along. She would learn what she had to, until she could get around like they could. Sasha very much doubted that Earth and what had happened there, was off of these people's radar. She needed to find a way to get back to Earth. To Alexandria. But how? Who could help her?

Sasha opened her eyes. Negan. If she offered him something, then she could get him to take her back to Earth. To Alexandria. But what he would take would shatter Darryl if he was alive, and ever found out.

She touched her stomach and thought of Maggie and Glenn. Two lives were growing within her now. Two lives that would never have to know the horrors that were going on on Earth as of now. She would make sure they never knew it—but they would know their father—or fathers, if that's the way it was to be. If both Darryl and Abraham were still alive.

 **THE END**


End file.
